Tanigakure no Sato
by MoonRaven1412
Summary: There is a village that accepts anyone. A village that keeps track on all the countries. A village that has managed to keep their neutrality since their founding. A village that is loved and hated all over the shinobi word. That is the Village Hidden in the Valleys. People gather there for a reason or other. Some are assumed dead. Some escape persecution. Some seek peace. many OCs
1. Setting the board

**A/N: Ahem... Hello. Due the fact I decided to finally catch up with Naruto(around hundred chapters or so) I began digging up my old OCs(and created some new). I realized that I like all of them even if some tweaking might be in order. Then I realized that I really don't want to play around in Konoha environment and wanted some legimate reason to put all of my OCs in the same village anyways. So I picked up Land of Rivers, Village hidden in Valleys, a canon place without much information. So I began tweaking it and forming a new world there... Place all my characters despite their origins in the same village... And Ta-Da! Here is this fic.**

 **I don't know how much I'll write this. After all I have other projects going on and stuff... I simply can't help it when inspiration strikes. In general this fic is sort fo a note book for me to which I can collect all my OCs in.**

 **But now, enjoy the first chapter: introduction of one of the key players and other important events, as well as clarification of what is Tani.**

* * *

 **Chapter one: Village where the paths meet**

 _They say people like to interfere with the life of others. Some say it's curiousity, some say it's concern, some say it's a desire for control. And some... some say it's mere circumstances and coincidences that lead life to most intriguing conclusions._

 _People of Village Hidden in the Valleys in the Land or Rivers pick whichever interpretation pleases them. They are known interferes with mostly benign intentions. This interference causes ripples to mindscapes and landscapes as the Wheel of Fortune and Fate turns to different direction than originally intended._

 _When Village Hidden in Leaves was founded at the Land of Fire, other four great ninja countries followed soon after. In their footsteps smaller countries began forming their villages too. And as you may have guessed already, that is where the heroes of this story live._

 _Village Hidden in the Valleys, as its name states, is situated on an area with a lot of terrain changes and has three big rivers running through it. The people of the village and the country have maintained their neutrality by non-aggression contracts with neighboring countries Fire and Wind, and for the longest time close ties with Village of Rain._

 _The village, called Tani by its residents, was founded mere six years after the village of leaves, by three major clans: Torino, Hanada and Aoi._

 _The first one was known for their members being talented Chakra Sensors even when one remains as a civilian. The extent of their ability is so strong that the children are given a name of a bird aside from their real one to keep them safe. No one outside the Clan would know who was connected to whom until the children were way into the adulthood. And even then, the person might prefer their bird name over their real one._

 _The second one has strong spiritual energy and are thus capable of connecting numerous people with their Hivemind Technique which allows no secrets being hidden and genjutsu being cast on an individual without actually seeing them. Naturally there is also counters for this and the children and taught a strict moral code once they are begin learning the technique._

 _The last clan had produced exceptional sword masters throughout generations as well as brilliant negotiators. While not many people paid attention to them as much as the other two, they were still valued in the village. Especially when the members of Torino and Hanada clans start an argument for arguments sake._

 _In the village they have a governing body of a council formed with the members of clans, other shinobi families and the represents of guilds. Leader of the small country of Rivers is called River-Rose (Kawabara). This role has this far been rotated between the three founder clans and the next and fourth to step to this role is Torino Taka, current heir of Torino Clan and son of the first River-Rose Torino Tsuru. In memory of the three founding clans there also was at least one shinobi team with children of each of the clan._

 _But why is the interference of Tani so special? What exactly do they do to deviate from other smaller shinobi countries? Why, despite the anger they may cause, are they never attacked directly?_

 _First of all, they have never allied themselves in any of the Great Shinobi Wars and rather benefitted from them afterwards in the negotiation table._

 _Secondly, they welcome any and all refuge seekers into their village as long as they had no malicious intentions towards other citizens. And unless the people wanted to leave voluntarily, people hunting them down would be turned away._

 _Thirdly, they mimic any and all countries out there. Even the village itself had five sectors within that represented the Five Great Shinobi countries and were modified according to the terrain there. And because of the diversity of people living, they had the richest culture there was possible to be._

 _So thus many of the heroes of this story originally came from other countries, bringing their techniques and knowledge with them. They are a sanctuary, an archive and home._

* * *

 **Year 13 BNT(Before Nine-Tails):** The Nattoo family with their son Ueno moved to Tanigakure from Iwagakure during the Second Great Shinobi War.

* * *

 **Year 9 BNT:** Ryuu no Ryuko runs from Suna, crossing the desert at the age of six. Due the war raging on, no Hunter ninjas were sent after her despite her possessing knowledge of a unique summoning technique.

* * *

 **Year 6 BNT:** Namikaze Nanami

In the aftermath of the Second Great Shinobi war many lives were lost. One of those lives was of one Kazekoi Kenta, fiancée of Namikaze Nanami. The young woman was just a girl back then, only seventeen and a chuunin of Konohagakure. Not many people had known about the relationship of the two, except for Nanami's older brother by a mere year, Minato.

"I'm leaving." The girl stated firmly, her hands clasped behind her back to mask her nervousness. A pair of blue eyes stared into other pair near identical.

"May I ask why?" Minato frowned. When the girl didn't answer, he sighed. "Come here, Nana." The young man patted the place next to him on the large stone situated at one of the numerous training grounds in Konoha. Nanami looked aside, obviously reluctant to comply with her brother's request, but relented. With little difficulty, she climbed up the rock and sat next to Minato.

Silence reigned for a while, neither sibling looking at each other. Eventually Minato sighed again.

"Is this something to do with Kenta?"

Nanami bowed her head so that her mouth and nose were buried into the large scarf she was wearing. Minato took that as a positive answer.

"Where have you planned to go? Konoha is safe place and you like it here, don't you? You've never before expressed a wish to leave."

"Because we were drafted into the war almost straight out of Academy." Nanami bit out. Minato kept silent and waited until the girl had reigned her temper once again. "I will go to Kawa no Kuni, to their ninja village Tanigakure no Sato."

"Kawa?" The man blinked. The land had expert diplomats and neutrality. After the last war they managed to chop a great bit of Kaze no Kuni and Hi no Kuni and become a buffer zone between the two in the hopes to quell any more wars. But at the same time its fate might be the same than that of Kusa and Ame that had they terrain trampled by the wars constantly. Previously it had been a bit aside that it wasn't hard to dodge. Of course in the last war the neutrality had been violated, thus the result at the negotiation table. "Are you sure?"

"Yes… I need to go somewhere else… Away from here and other Great Ninja Countries. Kawa accepts anyone they deem reliable. Only wanton killers are gotten rid in sight and other criminals that can't justify their actions to the council board of Tani."

"They are peaceful and neutral… Yet have angered many villages because of their reluctance to give up the criminals they've deemed trustworthy." Minato mused. He could see his sister relaxing and maybe could soon to get out the reason for her desire to leave.

"It is a good environment too. They copied the Ninja Academy concept from Konoha and improved it. The children are treated equally despite which clan or civilian family they come from…"

Ninja Academy… Why did Nanami bring that up again? A second time in this conversation… Minato frowned and looked at the girl. She was wearing the standard ninja gear with a short sword strapped on her back. Despite that, the man knew for a fact that she hadn't been participating any missions since the death of Kazekoi Kenta. He had been a good man but got injured badly in the mission last month. The month when Kenta's former team leader Hatake Sakumo had taken his own life. Minato suspected that Kenta had been too shaken of the older man's death and thus had made a blunder. After all Kazekoi had been the only one not slandering the White Fang for abandoning the mission in the previous war, thus saving his and his comrades lives. Yet… When Kenta had finally passed away from his wounds in the hospital he had said something strange according to the doctors.

" _Keep the future safe."_

"Nana… You are expecting a child aren't you?" At the question the girl tensed up. She looked at the young man nervously from under her blonde bangs and nodded then. Minato smiled. "Congratulations."

And finally Nanami's face broke into a teary smile. "Thank you, Minato-nii."

* * *

 **Year 3 BNT:** Namida clan from Kusa no Kuni moves to Kawa no Kuni. At first they try to settle outside Tanigakure but within a year move inside the safety of the walls.

* * *

 **Year 5 BNT:** Letter to Minato

" _My dearest brother,_

 _I'm glad to tell you that I've given birth to a healthy little boy. Currently I'm recuperating at one of the guest rooms of Torino Clan's compound. You might remember from my previous message that they welcomed me warmly to the village and have been supportive to me throughout my pregnancy. Not to mention the whispers that claim the heir Taka has shown romantic interest in me. At least that what his sister Karasu claims. She is a talented medic-nin and helped the midwives deliver my precious little boy._

 _By now you must be in stitches to know when exactly he was born and what I have named my son. Very well, I shall sate your curiousity. His name is Kazekoi Minami. After a lot of thinking I decided to give him his father's family name. And his first name… Well, naturally it is a combination of the names of the two of us. And now when I write this missive, it has been exactly a week from Minami's birth. Meaning that his birth was on the January 25_ _th_ _, the same than yours. Which also reminds me to wish happy birthday to you. I hope you like your present. I hope you will never need it but with the way nations have been stirring, I'm afraid a new war might begin soon._

 _But how have you been, my dearest brother? Do you still have your team? How are they doing? And what about Kushina-san? Are you two still together?_

 _From your lovable little sister  
Nanami"_

* * *

 **Year 5 BNT:** Kisaragi Shigure

Shigure knew he was short. After all he was only nine years old. But he wanted to change the world. He wanted to protect his village Amegakure. And this… This organization called Akatsuki might be the way. Shigure knew people had joined it with a goal to establish peace. The boy didn't know exactly what peace was though. Absence of war? Wasn't that right?

Nevertheless, the boy still though that organization led by a man named Yahiko was his answer. Shigure was a skilled ninja. Sort of. At least he thought he was doing alright but didn't have people to help him. Only street thugs to fight with and they were lousy rats. Easily down and the scurrying away. But he could always learn more. The senbon needles he always on his person had already been in frequent use with varying successs rate.

So yes, Shigure was short and young and looked down on but it didn't give any right for this man to laugh at him.

"Just go away brat." The man, wearing the robes distinctive to Akatsuki, made a shooing motion with his hand.

"No! I want to help! I can help! I don't want this country be stepped on again!" It was the Third Great Shinobi war now. And during the first months of the war the organization had been established.

"Kie, what is going on here?" A woman's voice asked from behind the man.

"Konan-san?!" The man, now known as Kie, jumped. Shigure tilted his head to see a woman in Akatsuki garb, blue hair and a paper flower in her hair. The boy wondered why she had that flower since it was made of paper and in this country paper easily got wet.

"This brat wants to join…" Kie began but didn't continue when the woman's attention was already on the boy.

"Is that so? Why don't we go to talk with Yahiko and Nagato then?"

"Really?" The two males asked, one in disbelief and the other with excitement.

"Why not? It sounded like you really want to help." The woman offered a small smile that was pretty but somewhat out of place on her otherwise stoic face.

A year later Yahiko was killed as well as almost everyone else of the group. Only Nagato (who was the new leader), Konan (who would follow her friend anywhere) and Shigure (who had been hiding during the entire confrontation) were left. At first Shigure decided to continue following the two founders but then began to realize that the new direction of the organization was too much for him.

" _I've seen enough war."_ The then twelve-year-old boy had told the two and left, making his way slowly to Tanigakure no Sato.

* * *

 **Year 1 BNT:** Torino Karasu

There was tension in the air. Karasu frowned as she walked on with her two brothers: Taka and Washi. The three of them were a team: Tori no San. It was a funny play of words even though the situation anything but funny. It was the war after all. The trio had infiltrated the Kusa no Kuni to look for casualties who could still be saved and maybe thus expand the ninja forces of Tani or then gain respect and debt from the other countries when fully healed ninjas were returned to them.

"Anything?" Washi asked and turned to look at Taka who was keeping the rear of their group.

"There has been a battle not far from here." Taka replied. "Most likely between Konoha and Iwa. The Chakra saturation is reaching even this spot."

The Torino clan was known for their powerful Chakra Sensor ninjas. Some specialized to larger areas, like Taka, and some rather pinpointed individuals, like Karasu. There was some people who tried to claim that their ability was originated from the Hyuugas' Byakugan. While it could neither be confirmed nor denied, the specifics of their abilities were being kept under wraps and children given cover names to protect them. Some people didn't understand why because their family names was more than enough indication of who they were. But it could be attributed as just a quirk of the clan, like Uchihas' superiority complex or Hyuugas' Curse Seal placed on the Branch Family members.

"We should go and look." Washi stated and glanced at Karasu. "Are you alright, Karasu-chan?"

"Yeah… Just tired to all this fighting." The black haired girl rubbed her pale blue eyes.

"No worries, after this battlefield we'll rest." Taka comforted the youngest of them. As she was the only medic of their team, it fell upon her to check the injured ninjas while Washi and Taka sealed them into storage scrolls in a deep comatose state. Not that there had been much people still able to be saved. Some civilians and one or two shinobi from either side. But visiting the battlefields was still grueling.

The siblings made their way to the opening where several Iwa ninjas were lying. The terrain there was fractured and in general disarray. The usual result from Earth Techniques in the other words.

"They are all dead." Washi mused a crouched by the closest one. "They all experienced a quick death. And according to the lingering Chakra signature this was done by only one person… Damn, such a strong Konoha-nin…"

"H-Hey! Karasu! Where are you running to?" Taka shouted suddenly.

"There is one still alive!" The young woman yelled over her shoulder. "Underneath all these rocks!"

Indeed there was a rock formation that looked like a cave had collapsed. Most likely the cave had been made by Iwa-nin and then made to collapse upon whomever was there trapped. Karasu was already by it, her hands against the stone and her eyes closed. She was trying to pin point the Chakra signatures exact location so they'd get the victim out of there sooner.

"He is closer to the north-west side of these rocks. And not in a good condition…" The woman informed.

"Alright then, step aside Karasu." Taka fastened his gloves better on his hands and began a series of hand-seals while walking to north-west. Washi and Karasu followed the eldest of the siblings, prepared to move the body of the unfortunate victim into safety as soon as the rocks were out of the way.

" **Doton: Suna no Kiso."  
(Earth release: Sand Foundation)**

Taka slammed his palm against the stone which immediately began to crumble into fine, fine sand. Washi and Karasu both crouched slightly to see better when the barely alive ninja would be visible. It took at least two meters into the stone before a hand was visible.

"There!" Washi began pushing the sand aside and grabbed that hand, a way too small of a hand which seemed to have been crushed by the stones. Actually, when the sand was gone(thanks to some Air Release technique) and the boy on a solid ground, it was obvious that a half of the kid's body was beyond repair. At least beyond mere field healing's help.

"This is sick… Putting kids into war…" Taka muttered on the background while Karasu was already assessing the damage and healing what she could. It seemed that the boy's left eye was also missing but it showed signs of being surgically removed by a medic-nin. Probably the boy's comrade… After all he had Konoha's hitai-ate and there was only two clans in Konoha who had eye-based bloodline limit. The Uchiha's and the Hyuuga's. So there was no wonder that the eye shouldn't fall into the hands of enemies. The Torino's could understand it. After all their Sensor ability could also manifest in the eyes, making it more accurate but less broad. Karasu was a good example of this. Her eyes had once been dark blue but after years of training were of very pale shade of it. The short-range talent of hers came handy as a medic in pinpointing the problems of chakra flow just by sight and thus observing the healing process differently than a regular medic-nin.

"What do you think, Karasu?" Washi asked after a moment of silence.

"He will live. But probably never continue as a ninja. Unless…" Karasu trailed off with a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Unless what?" Taka frowned. He didn't like the feeling he was getting from his sister.

"There is a technique of restoring body… by transferring the damage on the user… And usually costing so much Chakra that the user dies afterwards if the wounds already don't do so."

"What?!" The brothers exclaimed.

"I want to save this boy. War is wrong and he is only a child despite being a ninja. He deserves another chance. And I'm tired. So tired to all this." The woman rubbed a hand across his face. "This far I've managed to heal his lungs and made sure his heart keeps beating. But everything else… The broken bones, torn muscles and tendons, crushed skull, bruised internal organs, damaged nerves… It is a wonder he is still alive."

"Are you sure about this Karasu?" Washi asked carefully.

"Washi! You can't seriously agree to thi-." Taka began.

"But I am. I agree to anything Karasu wants to do. Because she is right. This was is wrong and this boy should have never been here. And if we can help… even one person, then why not?" The middle child looked seriously at the eldest before turning to assess his sister. "But are you absolutely sure you want to do this? The technique is one step from being forbidden."

"Washi-nii… You of all people know me. You know how tired I'm to all of this." Karasu smiled wanly. At those words Taka came to kneel beside his siblings and pulled them into a hug.

"The last time together. As Tori no San." The heir of Torino clan stated and whispered then. "Any last requests, Karasu?"

"Look after each other. Look after the boy. He will become a Torino through me now." Karasu filled her hand with Chakra and let it hover by her left eye. She slowly pulled away from her brothers and began the transplant process. "Keep his heritage secret from anyone outside the Clan… And Taka-nii…"

"Yes?"

"Marry Nanami-san finally. You've been engaged for a year now."

" **Fuinjutsu, Yangton: Fushoo-sha no Seikatsu Tensoo!"  
(Sealing technique, Yang release: Wounded Life Transfer)**

* * *

And thus Torino Karasu gave her life in saving the boy of Konohagakure. The boy of Uchiha clan, Obito, became Washi's adopted son and brother to Torino Itami. And while the boy would always remember Konoha and his old team fondly, he'd also find a new home at Tanigakure.

It should also be noted that in the next message that Namikaze Nanami sent to her brother, she cheerfully informed him of her finalized marriage and congratulated of him becoming the Yondaime Hokage. At the same she lamented the fact that Minato had been unable to attend the wedding ceremony but she admitted that Minato was probably too busy and in general wouldn't enjoy the stuffy ceremony. Besides, she had also been unable to attend his inauguration ceremony.

" _By the way…"_ Nanami wrote once coming back from visiting Washi. _"Minami has made a friend. He was a bit lonely at first but seems nevertheless to enjoy life at Torino compound. I've seen him stare at Tsubame-chan for hours end occasionally and yesterday I was introduced to her brother Fukurou-kun. He is such a sweet boy and has been recuperating from a mission gone wrong. He absolutely adores both Minami and Tsubame-chan. Speaking of children, when have you and Kushina-san though about having a child? Oh, wait you need to marry her first. Hah, that's strike two in things I did before you Minato-nii…"_

* * *

 _And thus you know now how major players moved to set the board again. Later on there would be repercussions just as there will be more stones thrown into the river and cause ripples._

* * *

 **AN/: Alright... Here was some made up techniques, characters mentioned, characters created solely for this fic... And a great turnabout!**

 **During this fic I try to use the English names in narration unless I deem it stupid sounding. In the speech of the character I prefer Japanese.**

 **NOTES:**

 **-Namikaze Nanami and Kazekoi Kenta: Created solely for this fic and Nana is already one of my favourites! Minami is the character I was thinking when creating these two. Back in the day he resembled greatly the fourth Hokage so I thought why not make him actually related to him. Originally he was named Minami Kazeto but I decided to change it because the surname sounded stupid.**

 **-Shigure: An new character that I needed for a team. And diversity of villages. And thought why not make him an ex-member of the very first Akatsuki.**

 **-The Torino's: Karasu is the only original one of my OCs and her function in reviving Obito is still the same but the timing, company, and the jutsu itself is different since she is from the time I still thought Obito was dead(from around Kakuzu-Hidan arc). The Torino clan is weird in their secrecy but in the other hand so are all the other clans too with their quirks.**

 **-The Hanada's: Flower Field Clan. I try to differentiate them from Yamanaka's but it's sort of hard...**

 **-Jutsus: totally butchered Japanese with the help of GOOGLE trnsltr... But they sound grand, don't they?**

 **()**

 **This is all I have for the opening chapter. I hope you enjoyed this and would like to know more about. Unfortunately I have no art about these because they are all pretty new... In the up-coming chapters I'll take a character at the a time and write about the major events in their life as we approach the time line of the canon series. In the next chapter you shall have: Namikaze Nanami!**


	2. Namikaze Nanami

**A/N: Hoo, I already got some watchers. Thank you very much. :) I don't have much forewords for this chapter... But in general the future chapters up until the start fo the series will be interlinked by their timing. I may post a timeline at the end to these chapters where you'll see all the events chronologically. I seriously have an Excel document where I have listed everything so I can keep up with this shit...**

 **And did you know that Akatsuki is seriously messed up timeline-wise? I mean seriously... Nagato, Yahiko and Konan were about the same age right? Nagato and Konan were around 35 according to wikia during Shippuuden. It sort of matches with the Second ninja-war when the trio was orphaned. But then the shit starts to be confusing. Yahiko was 15 when he died. According to timeline that's before when end of the Third ninja-war. Yet when the first version of Akatsuki was decimated, Tobi/Obito/Madara had their hand in it. But Obito 'died' _after_ Yahiko's death (if the timeline is to be believed). But then things go even more weird... I watched the cutscenes of Naruto Ninja Storm(or some other game, they all sound the same)'s spin-off of Akatsuki... In that one Tobi/Madara is the one pointing Konan-Pein group to the direction of potential new members. Nothing weird yet but the first three people listed are Kakuzu, Sasori and _Itachi_. So in a sense the second coming of Akatsuki would be around Uchiha massacre! I see that Nagato might've needed time to collect bodies for his six paths of Pain but still... And Itachi was seriously one of the first people to be recruited? Even before Orochimaru(and don't let me go on about this creepers timeline)? I understand that this is part of a game and not necessarily canon but still...**

 ***sigh* just ignore me here. I needed to vent a bit. I hope you enjoy this chapter where we have Nanami as a protagonist.**

* * *

 **Chapter two: Seven seas**

Namikaze Nanami was not a shy girl. No, not at all. While she might have preferred to retreat to her older brother's shadow and let him take the spot light, she was still perfectly capable of standing on her own. The two of them were orphaned a bit before the start of the Second Great Shinobi War, when they both still were in the Ninja Academy of Konoha. Ever since then they both strove to be better and better, Minato one step ahead of his sister all the times.

They were both ten when they finally graduated, in the midst of war. Minato got Jiraya of the Sannin(though they weren't known as the sannin quite yet but a bit later) as his joonin teacher. A year later Nanami had her own group, with her classmates Inuzuka Tsume and Nara Yoshimi. Her teacher perished all too soon and Kazekoi Kenta, only two years their senior, took over. The two of them became close and even when Kenta left for the mission in the front lines and Nanami eventually got her own team to look after, they still kept contact.

Nanami was fourteen when she made it to joonin rank(once again a year after Minato). She got three recently graduated genins to look after: Namiashi Toshiro, Yamashiro Aoba and Takenaka Aura. They were way too young for the war so she made sure they'd know all she could teach them, before they were sent in too. Which was hopefully never. Nanami loved her students and they respected her back. They were some of the few to know her relationship with Kenta aside from her brother and were devastated when she decided to leave Konoha.

At Tanigakure no Sato, she was quickly taken in by the Torino Clan. In the beginning, Nanami thought it was weird but learnt then that some clans wanted new blood in them, either by marriage or adopted children. Torino Clan was one of them, Hikari was another. When Minami was born, he became the light of Nanami's life and with the clan's support, she managed to get over Kenta's death.

* * *

 **Year 1 BNT:** Torino district

Nanami was dressed in her bathrobe and writing a letter for her brother. It was a crisp morning and the Third Great Shinobi War had ended some months ago with Konoha's victory.

Not much before it, Torino Taka had finally officially proposed her and the wedding had been held. Previously they had been sort-of engaged but still skirted around the topic of marriage.

And not much after the peace, Namikaze Minato had been chosen as the next Hokage, Yondaime. After hearing the news, Nanami had grabbed a scroll immediately and began writing. Even if she was late in hearing the news, it could be attributed in the mess that aftermath of any war was. Minami was sitting on the floor behind her and drawing/scribbling on some paper.

 _Knock, knock_

"Come in." Nanami said, not lifting her gaze from the scroll. The door opened to reveal her husband Taka.

"There is someone I'd like you to meet." The man said softly. He was usually quite stoic and stuck to rules but with his new family, a softer side had been found. Moreover, the matter his appearance at the room concerned, seemed to press some somber mood upon him.

"Someone?" Nanami blinked but nevertheless put her writing tools away.

"Yes. Fukurou-kun… has woken up. Washi and Tsubame-chan are with him now but… I think it'd be good if he'd have a familiar face around. And bring Minami-kun with you. I think Tsubame could do with a play mate." Taka spoke quickly. The blonde woman narrowed her blue eyes at the man. He was hiding something. The fact that he used the bird names was enough. Ever since their marriage, Nanami had gotten to know the real names of the clan members slowly. At least of those she was closest to. She knew for a fact for example that Washi's daughter Tsubame was actually Itami and his wife Kokone(she was an outsider) while the man's own name was Hiroshi. And she had never heard any member of Torino clan being called Fukurou, an owl. And calling her a familiar face while Washi and Itami apparently weren't…

"This Fukurou…-kun…" Nanami began carefully. "Is he a new adoptee? From Konoha?"

"Hai." Came the stiff answer. "I'll explain more once at Washi's house. It is sealed against eavesdroppers."

Nanami knew that. Ever since Taka and Washi had come back from their last mission, Washi's house had been put under numerous seals. There was no obvious reason for that action. All the shinobi other countries that had been brought back, were given to hospital to be healed. Besides no one had seen a hair or hide from Karasu either. Nanami had at first thought the woman was recuperating at her brother's house but then the wedding had distracted her.

"Very well then. Let me change on something more appropriate." The blonde scooped her son from the floor. Minami let out a dismayed wail and tried to hand onto the tatami but had his fingers soon pried open. The boy pouted as his mother carried him to Taka and place him on the man's arms.

"Now, nothing of that Minami-kun. You are going to meet your cousins today." Taka tickled the boy's stomach, eliciting a giggle. Nanami smiled at the sight. The four-year old had inherited her eyes and hair color. He probably would have been a mirror image of young Minato if it hadn't been for the softer hair quality from Kenta.

* * *

Ten minutes later the family of three was heading to the house at the edge of Torino district, furthest one from the main gate and right next to Hikari district. A woman was right then exiting the house. She had a medic's bag with her and was dressed in a lightly-colored yutaka.

"Kounotori-san." Taka greeted her.

"Ah, Taka-kun. You came just in time. I just finished the check up on the patient. He is physically fine but seems to be suffering from mild amnesia. It's probably result of the trauma of his near death."

"Arigatou, Kounotori-san. And give my regards to Hagetaka-san and Kamo-kun."

"I will." The woman bowed politely. After all, despite her being older, Taka was still the next head of clan. This resulted an interesting contradiction between her words and actions.

Without wasting any time Taka guided Nanami to a bedroom adjacent to the hallway. It was the last room of the house and also the safest one. The man knocked on the door and Washi came to open it.

"Hatori-nii, you're back." The younger man sighed in relief. He then noticed Nanami. "I must warn you, Nanami-san… this boy… is some you knew well."

Feeling of dread coiled in the young woman's stomach. She was mentally going through the list of people she knew at Konoha 'very well' and narrowed it down to those males who were still less than twenty. First and foremost her own and Minato's teams came to mind.

"Before I see him… Can you tell me how and where you found him? And where is Karasu?" Nanami asked, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

"The boy was all but dead at Kusa. Buried under stones with dead Iwa-nin littering the area. There was no one else around and I can only guess with the light of later information that his team continued their mission: destruction of Kannabi-bridge." Taka answered.

"So he won't be missed?"

"No. Unless he wants to return to Konoha, he will remain here."

"What about Karasu?"

At that question Taka remained quiet but instead Washi answered.

"Little sister gave her life in using advanced healing technique. It transferred all the damage he had sustained into her own body. It healed everything except the missing left eye which she had prior that replaced with her own. It's currently being discussed whether or not the technique should be banned."

"Alright then…" Nanami sighed before placing Minami on the floor to stand and held onto the boy's hand. "I'll see the kid now."

Washi nodded and opened the door further. The room was dimly lit, most of the light coming through the thin curtains that cut the worst glare of the sun. The patient was on a futon and propped into sitting position with numerous pillows. Itami was sitting next to him, the three-year-old girl being engaged with some sort of a game with the boy. Their left hands were against each other flatly and then the boy twisted it so his palm was facing the ceiling and Itami's hand was still against his, facing the floor. Next the girl shifted her hand, bringing it beneath the boy's and gripping his wrist. The boy let out a short laugh and turned his hand so he could take a hold on Itami's wrist.

" _They'd make good siblings."_ Nanami thought, observing the pair of them. They both had smooth black hair even though the boy's was of spiky sort. And while Itami had dark blue eyes, the boy had one light blue(the one received from Karasu) and one black. He was pale and obviously still tired but seemed to enjoy the little girl's company. Nanami knew that face well. Minato had sent her a photo of his team around three years ago but even before that she'd met with the boy when he still was in Academy.

"Itami." Washi spoke. The girl's head snapped up and turned towards the door. Her father gestured her to come closer. "Why don't you show Minami-kun around?"

Itami got on her feet and hurried to her father. "Come, Minami-kun, I'll show you the jutsu scroll I got last week. It's so cool!"

"'kay. Bye Kaa-san." Minami waved the Nanami who waved back, before the poor boy was dragged out by a girl year younger than him. Then Nanami turned to look at the boy on futon once again. The boy was watching her too. The woman sighed and slowly walked to the boy before sitting down.

"Hello, Obito-kun."

* * *

 **Year NT:** Training ground 14, Earth section of Tani

Nanami looked at her students with a mixture of pride and amusement. They were faring quite well against her. Even though they all were of chuunin level and she hadn't been practicing as much as when she was at Konoha, she had still outsmarted and outmaneuvered them. But they were good, damnably so.

"Okay, up you get. We are going to meet Kawabara now and see if there is any good missions for us." Nanami clapped her hands together. The three teens got up from the spots they had been sitting on and regaining their breath. They were back to their high spirits almost immediately and the loss didn't sting anymore. They had had Nanami as their joonin-sensei for a year now when the team had been formed. They knew who her brother was and his reputation, and as well got to know personally that she easily matched him.

Team was made of Torino Fukurou, previously Uchiha Obito, who'd learnt through hard work to sense the chakra and it's after effects with the eye he'd received from late Karasu Torino. He also practiced his Sharingan, normal and Mangekyo, though with extreme moderation and in secret. Nanami had heard from Washi that when the boy had woken up, after months of unconsciousness, his first words had been: _"Rin is dead"_. Apparently he'd in his unconscious state received a vision through his donated eye, thus activating the second stage of his own Sharingan. Naturally his heritage was being kept in secret but that didn't stop Nanami from pushing the boy's abilities. Despite him being the youngest of the trio, he also had most potential to be awakened. With both the Torino Eye Chakra sensing and Sharingan, he'd one day become a truly formidable opponent. An eye that can gaze the past and an eye that can predict future…

While death of Rin had been a heavy blow on Obito's psyche, instead of succumbing to the Curse of Hate, he decided to become even stronger so he could personally protect the people he cared about. This circle now included Itami, Minami, Nanami, and his two team mates. The boy had begun to flourish without the pressure the Uchiha had placed on him and the scorn he'd received from one Hatake Kakashi.

Kisaragi Shigure had arrived to Tani in the midst of war. After council cleared him being free of any manipulation, malicious thoughts towards the village and its denizens, and an able shinobi, he'd been placed under Nanami's care. While some of the council members had been wary of the orange haired boy because of his ties to Ame and Akatsuki, he'd eventually been welcomed. He was talented in water-based ninjutsu and had always various senbon hidden in his clothes and his person. Due the fact he'd never received any official training, he was still in the genin level even though his abilities were easily that of a chuunin. And despite the horrors he'd seen, he was a sweet boy if a bit solemn and quiet after his experiences.

The last member was Nohara Mari. And while she shared the same family name and even personality than Rin, Obito didn't feel any ill feelings towards her. Sometimes he was hit by a sense of nostalgia but that was simply because how similar this new team was to his old one. Mari was also a medic kunoichi, training under Torino Kounotori, but perfectly capable of taking down opponents larger than herself and providing cover with her Earth-based ninjutsu.

All in all they were a balanced team. In Tani the kids were trained already in the Academy to find their nature type affinity so when forming the teams, they'd have as diverse group of elements as possible, thus leaving less weaknesses. The children's abilities were taken into careful consideration as well as their personality in order to get functional teams. Then under the care of joonin-sensei's they genin/chuunin teams could specialize more. Nanami's team for example was perfect for sneak attacks and detecting ambushes. They were a lethal strike team.

* * *

On the way to meet with Kawabara, a messenger hawk flew down on Nanami's arm. She seen it coming and frowned now at the black seal on the scroll it carried. The hawk bore Konoha's insignia and the only reason the seal was black would be the death of someone… Nanami gulped and too the scroll. The hawk left immediately to rest at the high tower in the middle of the village. That tower was part of the Council building where also Kawabara had their office, and in that tower all the messenger hawks were kept.

"Fukurou-kun… You stay with me. Others can go home. We'll see about that mission later."

"Nanami-sensei, will you be alright?" Mari asked concernedly, having noticed the black seal. Shigure was also frowning.

"I don't know." Nanami sighed. The two glanced at each other before using Body Flicker to leave. Nanami signaled Obito to followed her and they made their way back to Torino district.

* * *

The scroll was lying on the ground now, open. Nanami couldn't hold back her tears and was clutching now both Obito and Minami close to her. Obito was silently crying too while Minami was confused of what was going on but didn't like the fact his mother and sort-of-cousin were sad.

The scroll was sent by Sandaime Hokage, informing Nanami of the demise of her brother Minato and his fiancée/wife/girlfriend in the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Nothing else was said in the missive other than the date of the funerals.

* * *

 **Year NT:** Konoha

Solemn row of black-clad ninjas and civilians stood silently at the square beneath the Hokage monument. No one spoke, some silent tears were shed, but the quiet all around was both comforting and stifling. In front of the rows was a woman in black kimono and a bamboo parasol despite the cloudy day. Chilly wind blew to the square and made her polka-style hair flutter gently. Meanwhile behind all of the rows, in the shadows of trees, was a black haired young teen with a five-year-old blond boy on his arms. They both were also clad in black. The reason they were standing aside and hidden was because of their statuses. Obito was supposed to be dead and currently he really didn't fancy facing his old comrades and ripping open even more wounds on them and himself. Minami in the other hand was kept secret. While Nanami had never made herself name like her brother had on the battle field, as future Kawabara's wife and a member of Torino clan, she had a target on her back. She didn't want a similar target on her son too. Only her old genins and Minato had known about her pregnancy.

* * *

"A jinchuuriki? Naruto-chan?" Nanami tried to keep her ire in check. She could understand that Minato had made a last resort decision but… "And you want to announce everyone that he has the fox sealed inside him?" …but Sandaime's decision was luridicious. The two of them were seated the Hokage's office under numerous privacy seals. Naruto was dozing away in a basket softened by a soft comforter. Nanami had just been briefed of the entirety of Nine-Tailed Fox's attack. Apparently the old man thought she deserved to know.

"Minato wished that Naruto would be regarded as a hero." Sarutobi Hiruzen stated.

"Nonsense. Minato may have been genius but sometimes he could be incredibly dumb." The woman waved the statement away impatiently. "If you tell civilians, it will only end up vilifying and isolating Naruto. Regular citizens and not even all of the shinobi understand fuuinjutsu. And considering how Kushina's status as a jinchuuriki was kept a secret, most of them think Kyuubi came outside of the village. A random attack of a mindless beast. That's what they think. And that's what you should let them think. Tell them Yondaime killed the fox. After all if Sanbi is dead why shouldn't Kyuubi be until the chakra is formed again."

"Sanbi is dead?" Sandaime looked up sharply.

"' _Struck apart inside its temporarily jinchuuriki'_ would be a better way to word it but essentially yes. But it will form again, eventually. Or why else do you think Nohara Rin jumped in front of Hatake Kakashi's Chidori? To destroy the turtle before it could break free and destroy Konoha, what else?" Nanami glared at the old man. Those kids on the battlefield… and their loyalty for the village… Nanami wasn't sure whether she should've been proud of them or felt sick in her stomach towards the village. It had been a wonder that Obito hadn't succumbed to his clan's Curse of Hatred.

"And you know all of this how?"

"We in Tani have quite advanced information gathering network." There was no way in hell that she'd tell the Hokage how her team had gone on the place of Rin's death at Obito's request and let him use Karasu's abilities the sense the chakra there. Sanbi's chakra had been more than distinctive but exploded outwards along with Rin's when she'd died.

Nanami got some morbid satisfaction when she saw Sarutobi wince at her use of _'we'_ when indicating the people in Tani, instead of _'they'_.

"Alright then…" The old man sighed. "I'm guessing you want to take care of Naruto now."

"I would if I could. But I know for a fact that you and the elders will pitch a fit if I were to take him with me to Tani… And on the other hand I can't leave my village permanently either. I have duties to attend and my own team to look after. Granted, they are of chuunin level all (except Shigure who still hasn't been allowed to be promoted) but they are still my team. Besides if I were to stay here and take care of him, it'd alert wrong sort of attention. Just like it would be if Jiraya-sama were to look after Naruto. Enemies of my brother would easily put two and two together and hurt him because of that. No worries though, I will send someone occasionally to check on him." Nanami stood up from her chair gracefully and straightened some wrinkles on her kimono. She took her parasol leaning against the desk and looked down at her nephew. Her eyes softened considerably. "I hope you take my words into account before making any rash decisions. Placating civilians or not. And kami-sama forbid if you let Danzou get his claws on Naruto-chan."

And icy glare was directed at Sarutobi once again, with killing intent leaking from the woman. "For your own sake I hope that won't happen because then I won't hesitate to come and raze this tower on the ground. And you with it."

Sandaime suppressed a shiver. "I understand, Namikaze-san."

"It's Torino-san nowadays." Nanami quipped. "Now do excuse me. I need to meet with the rest of my entourage." Entourage meaning Obito, Minami and couple of other shinobi from Tani.

* * *

Nanami met her people at the main gate after changing her clothes into something more suitable for running. Minami cheerily waved at her mother from Obito's arms and with them was a boy with brown chin-length hair. He seemed about Minami's age. There also was Nanami's old team.

"Toshiro-kun, Aoba-kun, Aura-chan… Long time no see."

"Sensei…" Aura smiled. "It's been a while."

"Way too long." Aoba grinned.

"We were wondering whether we'd ever see you again." Toshiro added.

"Well, now I'm here again. How have you three been? It's been almost six years after all." Nanami smiled to the trio.

"We all made it to chuunin rank." Toshiro told enthusiastically. "I even managed before Raidoo." Ah, Namiashi Raidoo, Toshiro's cousin and rival. The other boy was in the same group than Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai. Minato had told Nanami a lot about the going-ons in the village through a code the two of them had developed themselves. Nanami had been teaching it to both of her teams though. And eventually Minami would learn it too.

"That's great to hear."

"And I finally mastered Suiton: Kouka Suijin." Aura added then.

"Who became your new teacher?"

"Yoshimi-sensei. I hear she was on the same team with you and Tsume-san."

"Yes… We were some of the few only kunoichi teams back then… Even our teacher was originally female before her demise. Kenta took over then."

The three looked anxiously at their old teacher but when they noticed she didn't overcome with sadness but a fond nostalgia, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"I see you've met with Minami and Fukurou-kun, too." Nanami noted then, deliberately switching the topic.

"Yes, Minami-kun is a nice boy and Fukurou…" Aoba glanced at the black-haired boy holding the kid. "…is alright too. I guess they are both of Torino clan now."

"Minami is unofficially despite being related to me. I decided for him to keep Kenta's family name. Fukurou-kun is my brother-in-law's son."

"Nice to meet you." Obito said quietly and stoically, his tired mismatched eyes betraying no emotions.

"I hope you keep their presence a secret. Not even Hokage-sama knows of Minami. And Torino's rarely interact this openly with other villages." It the situation had been different, like watching international chuunin exam's(that were going to be proposed soon she heard), or a political meet… But this was a funeral, of a Hokage yes, but still informal event. Technically 'Torino Fukurou' had no business in here, since he wasn't on a mission. Besides if either of the three recognized him…

"Nanami-san…" Obito spoke then and indicated the boy standing next to him. "This is Shiranui Akio. He wants to come with us to Tani."

"Shiranui?" Nanami frowned. They were a minor clan with taijutsu and weaponry expertise. And she knew a Shiranui Genma in a team coached by Akimichi Chouza. Team which also had Might Guy and Ebisu as members. They'd been pitted against Team Minato in chuunin exams. And if she remembered correctly, Genma also had belonged to Yondaime's Guard Platoon.

"Hai!" The little boy glared at being talked over his head. Nanami sighed and crouched down in front of the boy.

"Akio-kun… Are you sure you want to leave? What about your family?"

"Our house got destroyed in Kyuubi's attack. Kaa-chan and Tou-chan were inside."

"Don't you have any other family?"

"Genma-nii and others are too busy to pay attention to me." That was true. Not only there was the recovering from the war going on now also recuperating from the physical damage the Fox's attack had caused. Thankfully during the war, Konoha had never been directly attacked. Not for lack of tries though…

"So you are ready to leave Konoha and become one of Tani's citizens?"

"Hai! I want to become a shinobi of Tani. I already have my weapons with me." Akio pulled a scroll from the pouch on his waist. "I had this with me when the Fox attacked. It's all I have now."

"And you are certain? Tani is not a paradise. It's not a nirvana upon terra. But it is home." The woman spoke and was met with defiant and strong resolve.

"Alright then. Once at Tani, you will be enrolled to the Academy. I was going to enroll Minami soon anyways on the next term." Nanami decided and straightened up. Both Obito and her former team was gaping at her. "Toshiro-kun, Aoba-kun, Aura-chan… Become great shinobi of Konoha and take care of each other, alright?"

"Hai, Nanami-sensei!" The trio nodded and Aoba added. "We'll cover for you if someone… Well, you are essentially kidnapping a child from here."

"But not so much that you three get into trouble."

"Sure thing, sensei." Aura grinned and Nanami just knew they wouldn't listen to the last order.

"Alright then. Fukurou-kun, we are taking the fast route. You carry Minami while I take Akio-kun."

"Understood, Nanami-san." It was weird to hear Obito speaking like that but the more details separated his behavior from the one he'd been known with the better.

Nanami adjusted her parasol on her back and shifted it so it was tied horizontally by her waist. Then she picked up Akio and put him half sitting on the parasol and instructed him to hold on to her.

"Sensei…" Aura smiled with a mild frown. "Since when did you use a parasol? I remember you always had a…" The girl trailed off when Nanami simply took a hold on the handle of the bamboo parasol and drew it slightly, revealing a gleaming blade concealed within.

"No worries, Aura-chan. I still have my sword." The woman smiled.

* * *

 **Year ANT 5:** Tanigakure, center of the village, Kawabara's office

Nanami rifled through the papers. She really hated paper work. Two years ago Taka had taken the title Kawabara and assigned her as his regent in the office whenever he had to leave the village. Currently the man was in Sunagakure, renegotiating the terms of treaty. Apparently during the reign of Hanada Tomoharu(the second Kawabara) some absurd decisions had been made, and both Suna and Tani wanted to correct them. Aoi Gama(the third) in the other hand had been too busy to direct people during both second and third shinobi wars and fight for the neutrality which was threatened for real for the first time in decades. So the clean-up had fallen on Taka and Nanami. Clean up that had already gone on for two years…

The door was knocked on and an aide stepped in. She was carrying a scroll on her hands.

"A report from our spy in Mizu. They got in contact with one Momochi Zabuza, who has been by now declared a nukenin." The aide told and gave the scroll to Nanami. Pushing chakra onto the seal and opening it, Nanami read the spy's report. As Taka took care of the village and political affairs, Nanami was in charge of the spy network. With distaste she thought her position too alike to Danzo's but pushed the thought away. She'd never sink as low as that monster of a man. Besides, a small country like theirs had to be at least one step ahead of others.

" _Fourth Mizukage under the control of a man in a mask and sharingan…? The Mizukage is a jinchuuriki for Sanbi nowadays… And Sharingan control would explain why Kyuubi attacked Konoha."_ Nanami frowned. "Kaori…" She addressed the aide.

"Yes, Nanami-sama?"

"Write two letters with highest secrecy chipter… One to Konoha. A request for names of all Uchiha's who perished in the last war and or went missing or are otherwise unaccounted for as of now… And the other letter to our spy… To see if Momochi Zabuza would be willing to come here and discuss personally of the information he has."

* * *

 **A/N: As you can probably see... the shinobi of Tani have a sort of habit of kidnapping people to their village... Only willing kidnappees though. As stated in the previous chapter, if the person brought to Tani wants to leave back home, they are welcome to. This happened quite a lot with saved and healed Iwa and Konoha-nins after the war but there was still some who opted to stay.**

 **Some explanation points once again:**

 **-Obito: as you can see, Obito has decided to stay at Tani, knows about Rin's death and still acguired Sharingan. Mostly because of plot reasons I want to keep some things as they are... (Oh, just wait for what will happen in Shippuuden!) But yeah, because Madara isn't manipulating Obito, he stays sane and eventually will become a genin team leader too. In the Konoha scene he sort of behaved oddly because there was three people who'd known or at least heard of him so he tried to act as differently as possible.**

 **-Team Nanami in Konoha: Aoba is a canon character. Toshiro and Aura are not. Originally I'd written Raidoo in Toshiro's place but when I went to check the facts I noticed he already had a team... Nuu... TTATT**

 **-Shiranui Akio: my original OC. I drew a kid with his team mates but never really thought about his backstory. Back then I also found Genma really cool character so I stole his surname for the kid. Akio is a new first name for him though. He was originally Haru. But I already have Haru, she'll be introduced in chapter four and is basically female version of Haku... -_-"**

 **-Mizukage dilemma: Well, the wikia never really stated why Momochi Zabuza left Kiri... And originally I remembered he'd found out about Tobi/Madara's control over him. But then I found out it was Kisame... Oh, well... I decided to explore a loophole. And as you have guessed, there is an Uchiha after all under that mask.**

 **-Naming: Aoi family has weapon themed names. Gama means a sickle. Meanwhile the Torino clan has the bird names, like I mentioned in the previous chapter. Since Nanami and Minami joined the family through marriage, they don't have bird names though. Obito in the other hand was adopted for his own safety so he has one. I'll list below the bird and it's translation**

 **Washi: eagle**

 **Taka: Hawk**

 **Karasu: Crow**

 **Tsubame: swallow**

 **Fukurou: Owl**

 **Tsuru: crane**

 **Kounotori: stork**

 **Hagetaka: vulture**

 **Kamo: wild duck**

 **()**

 **Reviews are very much welcomed. :)**


	3. Uchiha Kisaru

**A/N: Huzzah! Now is the time for one of my first OCs I created for Naruto-verse. You guessed it, they are Uchihas. From the time when I just though Sharingan was a cool oddity, Tobi was adorable little thing that I hope was Obito after all, Zetsu was plain weird Aloe-vera and Madara was a freaky relic of past who in a sense had nothing to do with present. Oh, how wrong I was!**

 **Ayame was actually created before Kisaru but Kisa is the one I'm going to introduce here now. And no, Kisaru is not written with a kanji for monkey.**

 **In the team up I've once again picked people who were kinda close to Kisaru's age and graduation date. This is aftermath of war after all.**

* * *

 **Chapter three: Fan hanging from the trees**

Uchiha Kisaru was a talented girl. She may not have been a genius like Shisui or a prodigy like Itachi, but she definitely had talent. She pushed herself hard to keep up with the two who were closest to her age, Itachi even having born on the same year than her (Shisui was a bit older). And so she had managed to graduate from the Academy within a year, just like her cousin.

In the Nine-Tails attack, the girl had lost her parents. While she and her little sister Ayame had been safely at Uchiha district, Atsushi and Fumiyo had left to protect the village. The couple had disguised themselves and made sure they had no clan symbols on their clothing when arriving. For some reason the Uchiha hadn't been allowed to help… So the duo had fought bravely, without the use of Sharingan… and died. Kisaru was left alone with Ayame who was only a year old back then. Thankfully Shisui's family had taken her in and she began growing up with tales of Uchiha Kagami who was a friend of Nidaime Hokage.

When graduating, Kisaru had been placed into the same team than Umino Iruka and Gekkoo Hayate. Both of whom had graduated on the previous year but their team mate had then quit. While the two kids were respectively five and six years older than her, they still got along well. They were connected by the loss of parents during the Kyuubi attack. As a joonin instructor they had Hyuuga Hizashi, mild-mannered but intelligent man whose son was the same age than Ayame.

For a long time Kisaru was happy. She went on the missions with her team and on the chuunin exams Hayate got promoted. But then…

* * *

 **Year ANT 3:** Konoha, outside the Hyuuga district

She wouldn't cry. She definitely wouldn't. No matter how much she respected Hizashi-sensei, she wouldn't cry now. She was an Uchiha and Uchihas won't cry. Especially for other doujutsu users like the Hyuuga.

Then why was there tears on her cheeks?

"Kisaru-chan… It's okay. It's okay to cry." Iruka said quietly.

"But why? Why did this turn out like this? Why sensei had to…" The girl hiccupped and rubbed furiously her eyes on her sleeve. They were right outside the doujutsu clan's living area but far away from the gate so people wouldn't chase them away. There was no one except Team Hizashi and Ayame around. At least that's what they thought.

"It's the clan politics that we have no business to step in." Hayate sighed before coughing.

"But why must it be so unfair?!" Kisaru shouted at the fourteen-year-old. "Hizashi-sensei didn't do anything wrong! This is all…"

"Kumo's fault." Ayame said quietly, bringing the attention of the trio on her. "I heard the people talking about it. One of the Kumo shinobi tried to kidnap Hinata-chan but was killed. They said the clan head killed him and Kumo demanded Hiashi-san's head."

"How do you know?" Iruka frowned. The little girl just shrugged.

"No one pays attention to a child."

"That's true…" Hayate nodded thoughtfully. " _Cough, cough_. You aren't even in the academy yet so despite you being an Uchiha, you are constantly underestimated."

"And I rather keep it that way." Ayame stated proudly.

"What do you want?!" Kisaru was shouting again, this time at a man who'd emerged from the tree line and was wearing a black kimono. Black, straight hair and pale eyes revealed the man's identity immediately. Hyuuga Hiashi was standing in front of the four kids.

"Hyuuga-san." Iruka spoke but obviously didn't know what else to say as he left the greeting there. Hiashi looked quietly down at them, his eyes downcast but face impassive and not betraying any emotions.

"In the end it was Hizashi's choice." The head of Hyuuga clan spoke. "I was fully ready to give my life but he stepped in."

"But there is more to it, isn't there?" Hayate asked with narrowed eyes, while checking on that Kisaru wouldn't lose her temper. The girl had her eyes closed and was taking deep breaths. Her fists were shaking and her teeth were gritted.

"The branch house… and the main house…" Hiashi looked to the side. "Technically I shouldn't tell you any of this, but Hizashi really appreciated you three… And I trust you… four, to keep this as a secret. Don't tell even Neji-kun until he is older."

"What makes you think we'll believe anything you say?" Kisaru growled, still refusing to look at the man.

"Whether you do or don't… It's entirely your choice."

Iruka sighed. "We can at least hear him out, Kisa-chan."

"Fine."

"As your sister heard, my daughter was almost kidnapped a couple of days ago. By the head shinobi of Kumo. They were after the Byakugan and because of the death of that shinobi, the treaty between Konoha and Kumo was in danger. In order to placate the situation, Kumo demanded my body as I was the one to kill that man." Hiashi began. "But the secrets of Byakugan are kept in utmost secrecy within our clan. The elders ordered Hizashi, my twin, to be delivered to Kumo instead."

"Why him and not you?" Ayame frowned.

"Hizashi is part of the branch house, thus he carries the Caged Bird seal on his forehead. Upon his death, the effects of Byakugan will be sealed by it and the eyes become just a pair of eyes with unusual coloring."

"So technically Kumo gets what they want but still not and can't complain about it." Hayate concluded.

"Exactly. I was ready to carry my responsibility and die but Hizashi… in the end he volunteered. Not for the clan's sake or Konoha's sake, but for me." Hiashi sighed and looked at Kisaru who'd stopped shaking by now. The girl raised her head slowly and opened her eyes. A pair of bright red Sharingan with one tomoe each, glared up at the man.

"I might leave this matter here. I don't care a shit about your clan's politics. I have enough of them from my own clan. But know that I will never forgive anyone who was part of Hizashi-sensei's death!" With that Kisaru took her sister's wrist and began dragging the four-year-old girl behind her, away from the others. Behind her, Iruka and Hayate exchanged a glance before bidding a goodbye to Hiashi and hurrying after her. They all had a lot to think about.

* * *

 **Year ANT 8:** Ayame's graduation and the Uchiha massacre

One step behind. That described Kisaru perfectly. People whispered how it was similar to the Namikaze siblings back in the day but the girl paid no heed to that. She was always one step behind Itachi. Well, he was a prodigy so it was expected that he was really good. Kisaru was eleven when she made it to chuunin rank. But on the same year Itachi made it to Anbu, in Shisui's footsteps. It frustrated the girl. The moment she thought that she'd reached them, the duo as already out of reach. It was like running behind them in a game of tag and right when she was about the make them 'it', she'd trip and stumble, letting them get away.

The only thing she had managed before them was activating her Sharingan, but it wasn't something she was proud of. On the contrary, she felt distanced now. It was because of her intense emotions and anger towards Hizashi's death that she had the doujutsu at her disposal. Thankfully neither Ayame nor her team mates had told anyone. It was only after Itachi activated his Sharingan that Kisaru told the boy, Shisui and Shisui's parents.

Kisaru didn't pay much attention to Sasuke, Itachi's brother. The kid was cute, yes, and would probably be the best of his class. But the boy also was slowly being poisoned by the way he was raised. Sasuke craved for attention. His father Fugaku dismissed him and pressured him to be like Itachi. His mother Mikoto smothered Sasuke but in general agreed with Fugaku, so she wasn't much of a help. Itachi in the other hand was constantly busy but still the only one who actually cared for the boy as he was and not what he was supposed to be. So the boy spent most of his time training alone and didn't make friends even when he was enrolled to Academy.

Ayame in the other hand. She was dangerously smart and perspective. She listened carefully the adults and didn't have the explosive nature of Kisaru(though the older girl was slowly trying to curb it in). The little girl begged to be enrolled to the Academy at the age of five despite the fact that after the war the enrolling age had been raised. But the girl was also a genius and apparently the elders had pressured Hokage to let her attend the classes without being an official student.

At the age of nine, Ayame took the graduation test, without ever being officially enrolled to the school, and became a genin. Kisaru was proud. Proud but terrified of what the future would hold for her and her sister. And her fears came true sooner than she'd wanted to.

* * *

There was whispers. More and more of the around the Uchiha district. Kisaru wanted the ignore them. But she couldn't. And when Shisui and Itachi dragged her aside to talk with her, she finally had to accept the truth. The Uchiha were planning a coup.

"But that's insane. If they do it… If they really go through with their plan hundreds if not thousands will die. Both of us and other shinobi and civilians too!" Kisaru gasped. "A-And… when the other countries hear about the civil war they'll surely attack. Iwa is still bitter about the loss in the previous war and Kumo surely hasn't forgotten the Hyuuga _Incident_." The last word spat out with venom.

"Yes… We are aware." Shisui sighed from his spot on the ground, with his arms crossed on his chest. "But apparently the elders don't see it that way."

"My father agrees with them whole-heartedly." Itachi added. "And he is willing to use my connection to Hokage as a weapon too."

"I heard about it… When Sasuke-kun's entrance ceremony was nigh, your father wanted to accompany you on a mission that eventually secured you a spot in Anbu." Kisaru frowned. Ayame had been displeased about the fact how Fugaku dismissed his younger son and had been going on about it for many long minutes on that day. It had been one of the few times, the quiet girl had exploded. Probably because she didn't remember her own parents.

"Hn." Itachi sighed too.

"Hn, indeed." The Uchiha-speak wasn't exactly Kisaru's forte. Ayame in the other hand…

"The clan elders have ordered me to keep an eye on Itachi." Shisui informed the girl, making her head snap up and stare at the older boy with wide eyes. "They think his behavior is suspicious."

"And _they_ aren't suspicious at all, eh?" The girl snorted.

"Hokage-sama… wants me to keep an eye on the clan. And eventually, if nothing changes…" Shisui frowned. "It might be the end of Uchiha clan."

"Unrest has been growing." Itachi admitted. Kisaru growled.

"My parents died to protect this village. They stripped away the clan symbols in order to get to the frontlines while other Uchihas were forbidden to help. And now the village orchestrates us…" The girl gripped at the fabric of her pants. "And the clan wants to destroy everything my parents died for. I… I want to get out of here…" Her whole body was shaking in anger. "This is over and over again the same thing. And it all begins from that blasted Uchiha Madara."

The boys didn't say anything while their cousin seethed.

"You could…" Shisui began. "You could try to get in contact with Tanigakure. If the worst becomes the worst, I'm surely they'll grant you and your sister a sanctuary."

There wasn't much to be discussed about after that. The trio went on their own ways. Shisui to meet with the Hokage, Itachi to train with Sasuke for a change(and probably for the last time) and Kisaru home, to see if Ayame was back yet.

* * *

It was that day. That horrible, horrible day. It'd been weeks from Shisui's suicide, Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan(though Kisaru was the only who knew about it) and Ayame's early graduation. Kisaru was a shivering mess but refused to crumble down. Everything was going downhill. She'd been returning from a solo mission(she had been a joonin for a year already) when a message came from Itachi. The massacre was happening now. Kisaru used Body Flicker Technique to cover the rest of the distance and bypassed the security measures around the village.

"Itachi…" The girl reached the boy standing on a phoneline pole. From her perch on the roof right next to it, she could see Ayame and Sasuke walking together towards the district. No one was on the streets anymore as it was so late. Apparently Ayame – being a genin already – had helped Sasuke to train until late in the night.

"My accomplice has handled his part of massacre." The boy stated emotionlessly.

"I… see…" Kisaru gulped, refraining from looking at the boy and the blood on his clothes. Instead she locked her eyes on their little siblings who were animatedly talking with each other, Ayame gesturing her hitai-ate and Sasuke grinning.

"What happened with Shisui?"

"… Danzo stole his eye before he could use Kotoamatsukami on my father. I have the other eye Shisui gave me before taking his own life."

"…" The girl didn't answer. She understood the situation too well. "What is your deal with… with anyone really?"

"Sasuke won't be touched… And my accomplice won't touch the village. You and Ayame in the other hand…"

"We go to Tani."

The two teleported to the district right when Sasuke turned to look up at the place they had been.

* * *

Kisaru watched Sasuke and Ayame witnessing the bodies littering the streets. With a gulp she realized that Shisui's parents would also be dead by now. By the hands of Itachi's accomplice. But now wasn't the time to dwell in the matter. The two children were running now, toward Itachi and Sasuke's home. Kisaru followed them silently like a ghost and crept up upon them when they entered the house. Neither of them sensed her.

"Okaa-san! Otou-san!" Sasuke yelled, reaching the door of one of the rooms. Kisaru couldn't remember what room it was, tremendously empty it was anyways.

"Sa-Sasuke, don't come in!" Was called from inside the room. Both of the children froze on their tracks.

"F-Fugaku-jisan? Mikoto-basan? Is everything alright?" Ayame called back. But this time there was no answer. And the door wasn't opening either.

After many antagonizing minutes, Sasuke finally reached to open the door. Only to witness the bloodied corpses of his parents. And Itachi standing over them. Sasuke's attention immediately went to his brother and that was when Kisaru struck. She reached her hand and clapped it on Ayame's mouth, pulling the younger girl away from the scene and the brothers. Ayame put up a valiant struggle but when Kisaru casted a mild genjutsu over her, she stilled and went limp on her sister's arms. The door had closed after Sasuke had run deeper into the room, giving Kisaru a perfect window to disappear.

* * *

They met outside the village. Kisaru was high up in a tree, with unconscious Ayame on her arms. Itachi was sitting on a branch opposite of hers and crying silently.

"It's alright Itachi. It's alright to cry." Kisaru smiled wanly, lightly echoing what Iruka had told her years ago. The girl kept her eyes on their surroundings as the boy wept silently. There was only two months of age difference. When they'd been younger, they'd been inseparable. When everything had been fine.

Tears fell on Ayame's face. Kisaru hiccupped. It was all over now. The deed was done. While she'd killed no one, she felt like she was equally bloodstained. And there was something she had to do now…

"Itachi. Take Ayame to Tani. I got in contact with Kawabara-sama and the Hikari Clan. They have offered a sanctuary for Ayame and I…"

"What about you?"

"There is something I need to retrieve… And I need to show my face to Hokage-sama too, because he knows for fact I was out of the village during the massacre." Kisaru handed her sister over to Itachi and gave him a letter too. "In the case someone suspects you. Kawabara-sama and his wife are aware of our situation so they should be able to help."

"I understand."

Two teens. One made for peace but facing a war. The other made for war but fighting for peace. Standing finally on the same line. Itachi. Kisaru.

Two children. One lost everything and swore vengeance. The other was ripped away from everything and swore to become stronger. Standing apart once more. Sasuke. Ayame.

* * *

Kisaru sneaked in the Hokage's office. The old man was still there. No Anbu were on sight.

"Kisaru-kun… I didn't think I'd fine you here. Not this soon or in these circumstances." Sandaime spoke as soon as she appeared in the middle of the floor with a Body Flicker.

"The massacre has happened. Ayame and I are leaving the village."

"Already…?" The old man frowned. He didn't question Kisaru's knowledge. There was no time for that and he knew that the girl had been close to both Itachi and Shisui.

"Danzou sped up the schedule. Sasuke is the only one alive at the district. I already saw Anbu heading there."

"And Itachi?"

"On his way to Tani. Ayame is with him." Kisaru answered promptly. "I want in the official record that both Ayame and I perished tonight, like it's expected from the aftermath. And if that's not possible, then erase all the records of her and I. After all our parents are already dead, we were never officially adopted and Ayame never attended the Academy as an official student. She wasn't even assigned to a team yet, so her classmates will eventually just forget her."

"I see what I can do." Hokage nodded slowly. "Is there something you wish to say to Iruka-kun and Hayate-kun?"

Kisaru could only marvel Sandaime's memory. There was dozens of teams in Konoha and their composition changed every once in a while for some. Yet, the man still remembered who had been in a same genin team with her.

"…The leaf is burning and floating down a river. It's up to us whether we fan the flame or let it die."

* * *

In the bowels of Konohagakure was many secret pathways. But they all ended into one metaphorical spot. Spot where Shimura Danzou reigned over them. Them being the Root, officially disbanded off-shoot of Anbu, completely at the man's disposal and behind the back of Hokage.

Kisaru had managed to sneak into the lair of that snake. But unlike Orochimaru, that snake didn't have poison. Oh no… It suffocated whoever it happened to target. But even a snake can be fought against if one is quick enough. And Kisaru certainly was. She was growing into her full power year by year, while Danzou had been deteriorating for the last three decades. Despite the experiments he imposed upon his own body, he was still defeated by the enraged Uchiha girl.

"I'm taking Shisui's eye." Kisaru stated coldly before she struck for the final time. The eye might have been already in Danzou's body but there was no way he could've learnt to use it in a mere week. Unfortunately she couldn't kill the man. Too much interference from her and she'd have Anbu on her back. According to Hokage though, Danzou had never expressed any interest in her unlike on Itachi. So she should be relatively safe. Her chakra signature was suppressed and she'd covered her face with a blank mask. It wasn't an Anbu mask but a plain one closer to those of Kiri hunter-nins'.

* * *

When Kisaru reached Tani, she was immediately escorted to meet with Torino Nanami, Kawabara's wife who also had been her main contact. The office was sealed with privacy seals with Itachi and Ayame sitting on the chairs already. Nanami was behind her desk, leaning her chin against intertwined fingers and observing the three Uchiha's carefully.

"Tell me everything." The blonde woman commanded.

And so the tale began. All of it as laid bare before the woman. Ayame got also to hear everything and remained stony-faced the entirety of the meeting.

"I see… Kisaru-chan. The Hikari Clan has agreed to adopt you and Ayame-chan. The condition though is that you both will change your names. Considering it isn't that rare here for new arrivals, no one will thankfully ask questions. The other condition is the utmost secrecy around your Sharingan use. Even one slip up can be fatal to you two." Nanami stated and pulled to sheets of paper from her desk drawer. From other drawer she took two hitai-ate's. "I will assign you two to teams that are trustworthy. Ayame-chan, I understood that you recently graduated from the Academy, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you know what is the nature affinity of your chakra?"

"…Not fire. I found it difficult to do our clan's signature techniques at first. I can do them but…"

"Here." Nanami gave a slip of paper to the girl. "This is special chakra paper used to test the affinity. Just channel you chakra on it and we see how the paper reacts."

The paper was cut in half before it caught fire.

"Air then. You are lucky girl. You can use Air techniques in order to strengthen your or your team mate's fire techniques. And thankfully in the team I was considering to put you in, has a spot for Air wielder." Nanami turned to add some notes on the papers before giving the young girl her hitai-ate. "There may be some additional testing later for you but I'm sure you'll do just fine. You are seem like a bright girl."

"Thank you, Nanami-sama."

"Now you, Kisaru-chan. How proficient you are with weapons and working in a strike team?"

"I favor a tanto, like Itachi and Shisui, but my aim with shuriken, senbon and kunai is excellent too." Kisaru answered, a bit confused where this was going to go. She exchanged a glance with Itachi who merely shrugged.

"What would you think about joining to Three Weapons? It's our currently only Tori-Hana-Ao team but they are all excellent girls of high chuunin level. None of them have tried to joonin exams though they certainly have the talent."

"The Three Weapons?" Kisaru repeated in wonder. She heard of the trio. Three girls around her age or a bit older. Masterful ninjas and assassins. Sort of like an Anbu team but without the secrecy. "A-Are you sure I'd be good?"

"You gave me your records in mission success rate and you individual skills, you tell me. Naturally you need to be personally tested but I trust the famed Uchiha clan has been able to produce a capable kunoichi." Kisaru's face turned sour at the mention of her clan but smoothed her expression then.

"I accept. If you deem me capable, I'll gladly join the Three Weapons."

"That is good to hear. In the meanwhile." The hitai-ate was given to her. Kisaru noted with slight confusion that the symbol in it was different from Ayame's. Noticing the look of confusion on the faces of three Uchiha's Nanami chuckled.

"Ayame's hitai-ate has the kanji for valley, 'tani'. It's the symbol we use on with the genin and some older shinobi who graduated before the end of last war. Recently we have been doing an overhaul the system… Cleaning up and such… So when a shinobi is chuunin or higher, they receive a new symbol, a stylized river kanji ,'kawa', in their hitai-ate."

"Doesn't that paint a target on the genin then? It their hitai-ate screams their inexperience?" Itachi questioned.

"Not at all. We in Tani prepare our students more thoroughly than Konoha and form balanced teams. Our shinobi are target regardless of the rank because of the way we protect so-called defectors. And like I said before, some of our chuunin and joonin prefer the old mark. Besides… in Konoha, the genin have blue fabric used to tie the hitai-ate, right? And once as a chuunin, they change it if they wish so." Nanami leant back in her chair and smirked at the trio. "Now, Hikari Konami is outside waiting for you two, Kisaru-chan, Ayame-chan. I still need to talk with Itachi about his circumstances." As soon as the door closed behind the two girls, Nanami looked into a corner of the room. "Fukurou, I think you need to be actually present for this conversation too."

* * *

And thus, the two girls settled in the new village. New name, new family, new friends. It was a new start them as well as several other people before and after them.

Hikari Saki. New (and youngest once again) member for Three Weapons, now called Four Deaths. Specialized in thrown weapons and ninjutsu and quickly earned the title Silent Shuriken.

Hikari Sen. New genin to Team Fukurou. Her team mates were Kazekoi Minami and Kumokuro Aikira, both genin that graduated on the previous year, and both around two years older than her.

While life naturally wasn't perfect, in the end it was home.

* * *

 **A/N: Phew. I absolutely hated writing the massacre part. Researching the timeline was so hard... I decided that Shisui was a couple of years older than Itachi and Kisaru who are of the same age. Ayame in the other hand is older than Rookie 9 by a year, the same age than Guy's team in the other words.**

 **Sigh... I dunno what I should say about these two. They are seriously old characters. Older than my deviantart account. Heck, I bet I don't even have any revised art on Kisaru. Of Ayame, yea...** **And I really don't know what to think about my choices for Kisaru's team mates and the circumstances for her to develop Sharingan. It was for story purposes yes but... How troublesome.**

 **Nanami feels like Tsunade for me now...**

 **Alright. Thank you for reading this chapter. And a special thanks to my first reviewer CalicoKitty402.**


	4. Tani no Yun

**A/N: Haah... I really need to come up with some sort of schedule for updating chapters. Thankfully I'm writing these before hand...**

 **Anyways, in this chapter you are introduced to several characters. And I kill off one of them right out of the bat. I didn't think about it much at first but then she sort fo grew into bigger role. And I'm making no sense. Just read, folks.**

* * *

 **Chapter four: Four assassins of the Valley**

A special Anbu team. Consisting only of kunoichi. Four girls who ran away from their villages for a reason of other. They were brought together by circumstances and their abilities. They all abandoned their past but not their knowledge.

Mizuishi Iori of Takigakure no Sato. The leader. Left they tried to seal a Nanabi in her. Instead they got years younger Fuu. Her lighting abilities were something to be feared and revered. Codenamed the Thunderbird.

Haru of Kirigakure no Sato. The healer. Part of the infamous Yuki Clan with Ice Release kekkei genkai. Her mastery over water techniques was mesmerizing and terrifying. Codenamed the Glacier.

Kohaku of Kumogakure no Sato. The infiltrator. She didn't feel like she was appreciated enough at her village and decided to vanish. No one noticed until it was too late and several houses were struck down. Codenamed the Hurricane.

Tsuchi Koe of Otogakure no Sato. The muscle. When she discovered that experiments were being made on the shinobi of Oto, she ran away, leaving her sister Kin behind. It was only thanks to Four Weapons that she made it to Tani. Codenamed the Funeral Bells.

* * *

 **Year ANT 2:** Misty Spring

There were scrapes on the soles of her feet. There were cuts along her arms. Her kimono had been ripped and cut during her escape. She was only five years old. Five years old and already seen so much death.

"Kaa-san… Tou-san…" The little girl sniffed and rubbed tears away. It had been a slaughter that she'd barely escaped. Bad men and woman wanted to hurt her family and friends. Bad people didn't like her clan.

"Follow the river." That had been the only instruction her mother had given to her. Because all the rivers eventually led to Kawa no Kuni.

Ice formed beneath her footsteps as she kept walking. Her chakra worked hard to keep her alive. Cold didn't bother her, it was spring after all. And her clan used to live in cold area.

At an occasional town, the girl snatched some food to eat. Not much, but a little. Enough to keep her going until she absolutely needed to eat once more.

She barely rested, and never left the river for too long. But eventually it was too much for her. Just when the girl was about to collapse, a strong pair of arm scooped her up. A thick mist was covering the area.

"Are you alright, ojou-san?" A young male voice asked. The girl simply stared at his face. Jade green eyes and light orange hair… Smelled like rain and pine forests, like ink and metal. He had a hitai-ate hanging from his neck but she couldn't see the symbol in it. She was simply tired. And right here she felt safe…

* * *

Shigure looked bemusedly at the little girl who promptly fainted on his arms. Talk about awkward. The girl had black eyes and a straight, black hair. She had dirt from several days on her face and clothing. And from a quick scan he could see her suffering from severe chakra exhaustion and physical exhaustion.

The boy looked back at the ice trail left behind by the girl following the riverside. The tiny steps were slowly melting now. He frowned. Ice wasn't a usual sight at these parts.

"Yuki Clan? But Mizu no Kuni is hunting them down… along with other kekkei genkai users…" Shigure shook his head and began walking to the same direction than the girl had been heading to. There was basically only one safe place left for the girl. Tani.

"Good thing that I have already completed my mission." The teen sighed. One handedly, he pulled the hood of his coat up and let the mist around him thicken.

* * *

 **Year 4 ANT:** Waterstone of Waterfall

"Oh, hell no!" Lightning clashed with powerful gusts of wind and bursts of water. "I won't relinquish my freedom to anyone!"

"Chuunin Mizuishi, please calm down!"

"No!" The sandy-blonde girl yelled once again, her hand going through a series of hand-seals already. "I won't! You just want to lock me away! You just want to use this so called honor as an excuse! I'm not a weapon! I'm person! I may be strong but I have my own free will!"

"Everybody get out! She is using _that_ technique!"

" **Raiton: Garuda!"  
(Lightning Release: Garuda)**

A giant bird shaped construct of lightning chakra rose from the girl to the sky before diving down at the people around her. As it crashed, the girl took her opportunity to bolt.

* * *

Iori, as that was the girl's name, ran to south. Follow the rivers. It was a whisper that some wanted to ignore but a powerful whisper that encouraged people to seek solace. The girl jumped up into the trees, leaping from branch to branch as fast as her ten-year-old body allowed her. She kept her chakra-level low in the fear of pursuers but if she was lucky, she'd make it to Kawa no Kuni in couple of days. Less, if she didn't sleep. She was a trained chuunin, shinobi of Taki, she could endure harsh conditions. It was necessary as they were but a small country that had suffered in the last war badly. Without slowing down, Iori reached for the long straps of cloth tying her hitai-ate on her forehead and untied the knot. It wouldn't do any good to get caught with this in full view. She tucked the accessory inside her jacket and took another leap.

* * *

 **Year 5 ANT:** Clouds drifted apart

She was invisible. Her parents were civilians. And they were always working. They didn't appreciate her choice to become a kunoichi. The people in the Academy and afterwards didn't pay attention to her because her family had no previous shinobi background.

But she was talented. Frighteningly so. She had some of the strongest Wind Release techniques in her disposal. Not that anyone knew that she'd sneaked in and learnt them.

Why didn't people bother to see her? The war was over yes, but there was still a need for powerful shinobi and kunoichi alike. So what made her an exception?

" **Fuuton: Tatsumaki."  
(Wind Release: Hurricane)**

Kohaku, as that was her name, intoned quietly. It was her special jutsu. Her signature move. And it was now ripping apart houses. No that it was too unusual. Weather tended to be a bit unpredictable at Kaminari no Kuni.

* * *

The girl laid on her stomach and watched the Hachibi's jinchuuriki converse with some genin/chuunin. She recognized the kids/teens. Omoi, Karui, Samui, Darui… Their names were so easy to remember. But apparently Kohaku's wasn't. Or maybe it was the company they had, Killer B. In any case, no one was looking for her.

During the next three weeks, Kohaku wrecked more havoc with her ninjutsu. There was search parties in the case it was someone actually dangerous. Kohaku scoffed at the rumors.

"Idiots the lot…" She muttered from her perch. If people just had paid attention on her, they'd known of her proficiency in Wind Release and at least dragged her to meet with a superior to discuss of her actions. And maybe even would have arrested her. And yes, it would be bad attention but who actually cared? She hadn't seen her parents for two months now and frankly, if they happened to die she probably wouldn't bat even an eyelid.

Kohaku sighed. Maybe it was the time to leave. Finally.

* * *

 **Year 9 ANT:** For whom the bells toll

She was being chased. It wasn't fair! She simply didn't want to become a test subject to… to the village leader Orochimaru. Her sister had already been taken. And yeah, some of the results were sort of cool but at the same time the succession rate of those experiments wasn't too high. The girl could only hope her sister survived.

"Give up Tsuchi Koe! You are just a genin. You have no chances against us!" One of her chasers shout after her. Koe swallows down the urge to yell back. That'd only give those guys more of a chance to figure out her location. Not that they don't already know it. Koe was awful at chakra suppression and there surely was at least one sensor type in the tracking team. Her only hope was in her speed. And the distance she'd gathered during the first two days before that team had been sent after her.

Tears sprung into the girl's eyes. No! She wouldn't give up. Not now. Not yet. She could still make it to Tani.

* * *

Kisaru looked around the area void of trees. It looked strange. Around was dense forest but this place didn't have even a little green speck on it. No vegetation at all. Not even a single blade of grass.

"Anything?" The girl turned to address her team mates. There was three girls with her. Tori-Hana-Ao formation. Apparently it was traditional to form such a group in Tani whenever possible. Kisaru remembered vaguely that it was about the same with Ino-Shika-Chou back in Konoha.

"There is someone approaching with high speed." A brown-haired girl replied from her spot in the middle of the opening. She had her eyes closed and was sitting cross-legged. "But nothing from this area. It's like all the life and chakra had been sucked away."

"Is the vacuum still active?" Another girl asked. This one had pitch-black hair and very dark-brown eyes.

"No. Whatever happened here, is over now."

"And the person approaching us?" The last girl, with purplish-red hair and a katana strapped on her back, asked with a frown on her face.

"She is being chased."

"Thank you, Suzume." Kisaru spoke up then. "It seems our initial mission here is over. Most likely a more accurate sensor and research team needs to be sent here once we leave. In the meanwhile though…"

"Saki-taichou, the chased person is almost here." Suzume, one of Torino clan interrupted. Kisaru didn't know her real name. And all the same it was still weird to be called with _her_ new name, Hikari Saki. Not to mention that she was the youngest of the team, yet elected as the leader.

"We assess the situation. Protect this person if needed and handle the pursuers in a manner the situation requires. Mirai, prepare the genjutsu and link with Suzume. Katana, the usual protocol with enemies."

"Hai!" The two team mates, the brown-eyed Hanada Mirai and red-haired Aoi Katana, nodded. The quartet faced the direction of the woods where the possible enemy-nin were coming from.

* * *

Koe took a final leap. And stumbled head first in a barred opening in the forest. When the girl lifted her head up, she came face to face with four girls who obviously were prepared for her arrival. But that wasn't what caught her attention. No, it was the arm bands they wore. While otherwise the four older girls were in somewhat standard ninja-gear for Tani, they each were wearing red armbands on their left arm. Each of the bands depicting a weapon in them. Shuriken, chakra knife, katana and a scythe.

Koe swallowed. This group was the infamous Four Deaths of Tanigakure no Sato.

"Girl." One of them, with shuriken in the armband, spoke. "Who are you and who are chasing you?"

Koe blinked, before scrambling on her feet. "Genin Tsuchi Koe of Otogakure no Sato. The pursuers are of my own village trying to bring me back…" Her voice quivered for the moment before gaining strength again. "But I won't go back! They'd just stick me in the lab!"

The girl who'd addressed her, assessed Koe calmly. "Alright then. That is more than sufficient information for us to grant you protection. Suzume, Mirai, now!"

"Hai, Saki-taichou!" Two of the girls, with chakra knife and a scythe, nodded. What Koe understood of the situation, the one with chakra knife(Suzume) was sensing the pursuers locations while the one with a scythe(Mirai) cast genjutsu over them based on the location. It was amazing! Not requiring eye-contact or anything to trap the enemy as long as their location was known!

And soon enough, yells erupted from the woods. Mirai grinned.

"They don't call me Illusion Scythe for nothing, ya know. I reap their minds!"

"Brilliant. Truly." Suzume muttered, getting on her feet.

"Katana, come check the situation with me." The leader, as that the shuriken bearing girl obviously was, gestured the last girl(who actually had a katana with her and not only as picture on her armband!) to follow.

The pair disappeared out of sight and Koe looked at the two other girls. Mirai was still concentrating on the genjutsu but Suzume was keeping an eye on both her and their surroundings.

"So… You ran away from Oto? I always knew that village was messed up." Mirai grinned.

"Uh, yeah… There're experiments… And not all survive… And I didn't want to be subjected to them…" The thirteen year old explained.

* * *

"Kisaru…" The Uchiha girl looked up from where she had just killed two of the Oto-nin. Katana was standing behind her, with her sword drawn and tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Katana, what…?" Kisaru's eyes were glued onto the gleaming blade. It was only inches from her neck. Moreover, Katana (nor anyone else from her team) never called her by her real name during missions. What was going on?

"Gomenasai, Kisaru-chan… Honto ni gomenasai." Then Kisaru noticed the mark on the older girl's neck. It wasn't a mind-control seal, but a body control one. It left the victim's mind wide awake while the body was completing the task it was programmed to do. But this seal was incomplete. While Katana had no way of fighting it, she still could control her facial expressions and speech.

"One of the Oto-nin got you…"

"Hai… They... I did kill them but…" The blade moved again, before settling to rest on Kisaru's shoulder. Apparently Katana still had some fight in her, managing to stall for time and all. "I have to. I have to kill you all and bring Koe-chan back to Oto…" More tears. More anguish.

"No… I'm the one who's sorry." Kisaru gave a sad smile to the older girl. It was over in a second. Her ninjato was buried deep into the Aoi heiress's chest. Katana choked on the blood filling her lungs. "But it's alright. It will be alright. Just let me handle all this. Just sleep now Katana-san."

"Arigato…" The red-haired girl whispered as her eyes dulled. In the end, there was a trace of a smile on her face while Kisaru's was bathed in tears.

"I'm so sorry, Katana-san." It was her best friend here. Lying dead on her arms. And Kisaru couldn't stop her tears from flowing. Nor could she stop her Sharingan from changing a form.

* * *

Suzume's eyes flew wide open and her lips parted in shock. A chakra signature of her friend had just vanished.

"Suzu-chan?" Mirai frowned. The need for genjutsu had been over for minutes ago once the Oto-nin were dead. She already had all the necessary information in her head already, fished straight from the brains of those… five while they were too busy panicking/fighting the illusion.

"Katana-chan…" The member of Torino clan whispered in horror. She didn't know what had happened. She only sensed the signature flicker before disappearing completely. The only reason for a charka signature to disappear would be death. Reverse summoning always revealed the summoner's own chakra and there was no other transportation jutsus potent enough to move the object completely. (Thunder God technique let behind an after image because the brain of the sensor wasn't quick enough to process the quick transition.)

"What is it, Suzume? What is going on?" Mirai grabbed the younger(only by a year) girl's shoulders and shook her, in an attempt to rouse her from her shock.

"Katana-chan is…" Suzume whispered again, her dark blue eyes wide in terror. "Katana-chan… She…"

"Mirai-san? What is going on?" Koe frowned worriedly.

"I don't know…" Mirai frowned too. She knew that only few things would make the Torino to go in this state of shock. And considering the things Suzume kept repeating, the Hanada had an vague idea. She just hoped she was wrong. "I think we should go to investigate. You pursuers are already taken care of anyways."

"Okay." The two girls lifted the nigh-catatonic one on their shoulders and began slowly to trek into the woods. They came across three of the dead Oto-nin who were swiftly and efficiently killed by a katana. From there a trail went to west to the sight of…

"Saki-chan?" Mirai spoke. She and Koe placed Suzume to sit against a tree. "What happened? Suzu-chan went into a shock and began talking about Kata…na…" The girl stopped speaking when she finally took in the sight in front of her. The two remaining Oto-nin were lying dead at the background while Saki/Kisaru was on her knees on the ground and clutching onto the bloodied figure of Katana. A blade of a ninjato was sticking from Katana's back while the re-haired girl's sword was still limply on her fingers. Mirai faintly noted that Koe took a step back in horror.

"She…" Saki gulped back her tears. "She was under body control seal… She would've killed us all and taken Koe back to Otogakure… It was the only choice…" And fresh tears fell again.

* * *

Somehow the group made it back to Tanigakure. Kisaru was taken aside immediately. After all she'd killed the heiress of one of the founding clans and was originally an outsider. They needed to make sure she wasn't planning a treason. And also there was the fact she'd awakened her Mangekyo Sharingan. It meant private lessons with Torino Fukurou which were kept in utmost secrecy.

Meanwhile, Koe was taken in and put under the command of Kisaragi Shigure. While the young man didn't have a genin team, the three girls already under his tutelage had flourished and were well on their way to become an effective strike and infiltration team. Not to mention the fact he'd personally trained The Three Weapons/Four Deaths whenever possible.

"Are you sure about this, Nanami?" The Kawabara, Torino Taka, asked his wife.

"Yes, I am. Don't worry about this dear. I certain those four will become an important asset for this village. That's what they also want."

"Just like you were sure about Uchiha Kisaru's placement in Three Weapons?"

Nanami fell quiet for moment and averted her eyes. "Yes. They got along well and worked in great tandem. As the Hanada managed to confirm from Kisaru-chan's memories, there wasn't any other course of action for her to take. Considering the nature of the seal, Katana-chan would have continued the assigned task even after being knocked unconscious or until her body was beaten to unrepairable condition."

"And having Kisaragi-kun oversee the girls then?"

"Hmph… Darling… Shigure-kun has been part of our village for years. He is loyal and is still submitted to screening thrice a year."

"I can never be too careful."

"Yes… but being careful is different from being paranoid." Nanami sat on a chair at the other side of the man's desk. "Are you sure you are not just stressed with your responsibilities?"

"No… Simply worried. Has the report of the mental states of Hanada Mirai and Torino Suzume come yet?" Taka sighed while reaching for some random paper on his desk.

"Not yet. Suzume-chan is still recovering from her shock and mild chakra exhaustion. Apparently she didn't cut her sensoring link after witnessing Aoi Katana's… well, death. Mirai-chan in the other hand seems to be mostly alright. Her assessment will be tomorrow after she's managed to sleep through the night."

The man simply sighed again. "Good that you are here helping me… Sometimes I seem not to remember the overall picture when one singular moment starts ruling my thoughts. At the same time I ignore individual people when looking after the entire village."

"It will get better. The war was messy. The situation here is messy, yet we go on in our lives and help others like we used to. We can pull through this." Nanami laid a hand over Taka's. "I'm here for you and you know it."

"Arigatou, Nana."

* * *

 **A/N: Phew... Snapshots and larger plot advancement. Time to introduce our new people!**

 **- _Tani no Yun_ : Originally Kohaku wasn't part of this team. That honor went to Ayame(remember her from last chapter?). Back then I called this Nukenin no Yun becaause they were a team collaborating with Akatsuki. I was around fourteen when I created them. And the name for the team was totally a rip-off from Oto no Yun. About the characters themselves... Most of them were just character designs so for the sake for this story I finally gave them backgrounds.**

 **-Mizuishi Iori: chuunin, escaped her village so she wouldn't be made Nanabi's jinchuuriki, thus condemning Fuu to her fate. She is the leader of the team. Her design was brought on when I tried to create myself on Hapuriainen's Naruto Character maker.**

 **-Yuki Haru: Haku copy. That's all I have to say about her. Similar looks, clothing and skills. Except that Haru is actually a girl.**

 **-Kohaku: Her design is quite old. I stumbled upon it when going through my drawings... I guess I just wanted someone to wear that white shinobi-vest of Kumo... Anyways I slapped her onto the team to replace Ayame.**

 **-Tsuchi Koe: Sister to Tsuchi Kin the Oto kunoichi who grabbed Sakura's hair during the exams. I think back then I pitied Kin or something... She was a bitch but sort of cool one. And I had a bad habit of tying my OCs to actual characters (Ayame, Kisaru, Akio, Haru...)**

 **- _Four Deaths_ : The older Tori-Hana-Aoi group with Kisaru added to them in last chapter. They are more known than Tani no Yun will be. And as you can see I just killed Katana for plot reasons. Kisaru's got the Mangekyo Sharingan now! And no Ayame will not get hers. But! Since Kisaru has Shisui's other eye she took from Danzo... I guess you know what will happen once upon a time.**

 **-Aoi Katana: She will appear again. There is still events that took place before this chapter but still during the same year. And she will be mentioned in otherwise too...**

 **-Suzume and Mirai: Neither of them are directly involved anymore. Neither of them are directly related to other main characters other than their ties to their respective clans. Suzume is suffering form deep-rooted chakra-exhaustion and trauma of her friend's death. Mirai in the other hand is working for interrogation now. She will appear again during shippuuden though... and die.**

 **()**

 **Ah! I just realized that in next chapter you'll get Minami and Akio. My babyboys are grown up now! But I need to warn you too... The time line is really wrecked around 7-8 ANT...**

 **Anyways, please review. It'd make me really happy.**


	5. Wave and Autumn

**A/N: This is one of my favourite chapters to write. Minami and Akio are my baby boys. (Tsubame and Ayame are my baby girls) I hope you like this chapter.**

 **In a review for chapter three(arrived minutes after I loaded the fourth chapter) mentioned that I kind of jump in my chapters. I know and acknowledge that. However, because my primary goal in these chapters is to introduce my various OCs(some of which originally had only looks and name) I mainly mention only their most notable moments of past. To introduce them, their background and such. The chapters naturally overlap and through this the characters form a web of connections between each other and the canon. When we reach the moment manga starts, and introduce my final character properly(maybe in a sequel to this prequel) the events will slow down.**

 **I hope this clarifies the matters. :)**

* * *

 **Chapter five: The Wave during Autumn**

There was a secret located deep in the Torino district. Only the clan members knew about it. But even then, only few acknowledged it. Kazekoi Minami was an exception to that rule. He actively sought out that secret and could spent hours upon hours just watching it.

So what was that secret? It was a pond, hidden deep inside a cave. That cave had always been the heart of Torino Clan's area, even before the Warring States era. That pond was special because it was a window to the past, just like the eyes and chakra senses of the Torino clan were. In that pond was numerous chakra strands that gave out glow to the otherwise dark cave. Only crystals along the cave walls magnified the glow but not by much.

The Torino's tended to avoid the place because they already could see so much. And because they were a busy clan. Minami in the other hand was fascinated by the pond. Why? Because he could see Minato-niichan in there. And Kushina-neechan. Those honorifics had sort of stuck with him after hearing his mother talking about her brother and his girlfriend/fiancée/wife. Besides they were really young when they died. Younger than Minami's mother was now.

Naturally that couple wasn't the only one Minami saw in the pond. There was also Rin-neechan whom Fukurou-niichan had introduced the boy to. Fukurou also came occasionally spent time with the blond but not that much. He was also busy a lot and had this really sad look in his eyes whenever he left. A smile on his face but sad eyes.

So Minami set out finding another friend. He found one in Shiranui Akio. The kid was the same age than him, from Konoha(like him sort of) and wanted to become a shinobi too.

"I met Yondaime-sama once." Akio told Minami one day when they were by the pond once again. Minami was lying on his stomach while Akio was sitting cross-legged next to him. This time the view in the pond had Akio's parents chatting happily with Minato and Kushina. The boys weren't sure if the pond was a window to afterlife or did it just reflect memories and impressions of dead people. No living was ever seen in the surface anyways.

"You did?"

"Yeah. He was kind. And smart. And really strong too I hear. He did manage to stop Kyuubi." Stop Kyuubi. Not kill. They two boys knew that the Kyuubi wasn't dead. At least not permanently. At the Academy there had been a lesson solely about the Tailed-Beasts. During that lesson the kids had been introduced to years' worth of information gathered about the beasts. Number of tails, most-likely place to find, basic characteristics and abilities and notable jinchuurikis.

"I wish I could've met him." Minami sighed. The funeral had been the only time he'd been out of the village. Konoha had been a great place to visit, even though Fukurou hadn't let him walk on his own. Actually, Okaa-chan's old team was the only people he'd met aside from Akio. They'd met at the memorial stone after waiting for a long time a silver-haired shinobi to leave to Fukurou could pray/greet/talk to the dead. Minami remembered that Rin-neechan's name was on the stone. And so was Fukurou-niichan's old one too. That was probably the reason niichan had avoided everyone.

"Hai… He was a cool Hokage. If he'd lived I bet he'd been the best there is!" Akio nodded resolutely, crossing his arms over his chest. "Nee, Minami?"

"Hai?"

"Why don't people come here? I think this is a cool place and you even got a permission for me to see this pond too…"

"Kaa-chan says that people remember the war too much. They don't want to… dwell in the past, she said. But we didn't see the war. We miss the dead but differently. We don't remember them living." Minami frowned.

"But I do remember Okaa-san…" Akio frowned. "But I also know they are fine now."

"We are too young. That's what Kaa-chan says."

A silence fell again and the two boys watched the four adults to dissolve before new people appeared. Akio's mouth dropped open while Minami blinked in surprise.

"Shodai and Nidaime?" Akio gasped. Minami lifted his head to peer into the pond better. Yeah, the two new faces interacting/arguing were definitely the same ones he'd seen as the two stone faces in Konoha. This was interesting.

"Do you think… D'you think that as long as we have an inkling of the person we want to see, they show up?" The blond boy pondered. "And because the people who'd normally come here are mourning the people they lost, they also see those people?"

"You mean that because we don't mourn the people we have lost, we can see other people too?" Akio frowned, tilting his head and then blowing gently at the strands of brown hair the fell on his face.

"Yeah. I never knew Minato-niichan… And I've never met Kushina-neechan or Rin-neechan either. But I can still see them because I know _of_ them." Slowly, Minami reached out his hand… and poked the surface of the pond. Shallow ripples extended outwards but smoothed over quickly. And the most curious thing happened too. The two men in the pond – Minami remembered from the history lessons that their names were Senjuu Hashirama and Tobirama – looked up/aside _right at_ the two boys, like one of them had shouted out to get their attention.

And then Hashirama waved a hand. Akio immediately waved back while both Tobirama and Minami sighed in shared expiration.

* * *

 **Year 7 ANT:** Torino Nanami's office

Family names are a tricky thing. Minami had learnt that in the young age. His mother was a prime example of it after all. She was born a Namikaze and her brother had been a Namikaze too. If her brother had ever gone his way to marry Uzumaki Kushina odds were that he'd taken her family name. Or kept his own. But she couldn't have taken his. The reason was simple. Uzumaki was a clan name. Namikaze wasn't. In marriage, Minato would've been part of the clan, no matter how extinct it was. And that was also the reason(one of them) why Naruto had his mother's family name.

Nanami in the other hand probably would have taken Kazekoi Kenta's family name. It was sort of traditional after all. But they never married. So she remained Namikaze. When Minami was born, he could've been either but Nanami decided on Kazekoi. Namikaze name was still keenly connected to the Yondaime Hokage. When Nanami married Torino Taka, she became officially part of the Torino clan. But she was originally an outsider. When people heard about 'Torino Nanami', it was more than clear because she didn't have a bird name. Neither had Minami. So Nanami was stuck between being a Namikaze and being a Torino. In any official setting she was called Torino-sama or Nanami-sama(the latter was for people who knew her personally but wanted/needed to be professional when meeting with her). Especially if she was acting in her position as Kawabara's second in command and handling the affairs concerning new shinobi. But when she was needed at the field, in missions – giving them or completing them – she was Namikaze-taichou.

So when Minami and Akio were summoned to her office, the blond boy took a double-take when receptionist decided to lead them to _'Torino-sama's office'_. (Because for him Taka/Hatori was Torino and Okaa-chan was Namikaze)

"Come in." Nanami called when the receptionist/secretary knocked on the door. The young man opened the door and let the two boys enter. Nanami was sitting behind her desk and reading some report in front of her. She wordlessly gestured the pair to sit down while the door behind them closed.

A tense minute passed. Neither of the boys knew why they were called. Something sort of serious though because if it was because of some prank they'd pulled(last one was over a week ago though and they'd already gotten a tongue-lashing from it), Nanami usually addressed it after office hours, at home. Even though Akio didn't live at Torino district, he visited frequently enough that he might as well. (And the brunette viewed Nanami as a sort-of a mother figure.)

Finally the woman put aside the paper and looked up at the boys.

"So… How's Academy going?" She asked. Minami and Akio exchanged a glance before the blond gestured the brunet to talk.

"Quite well. I think we'll be able to graduate this year. The classes have become repetitive as of late…" Akio shrugged. "But I'm sure you didn't summon us here only to discuss about that, right Nanami-basan?" The boy grinned then.

"You are correct. I have an assignment for you two."

"Nani?" The duo yelped.

"B-But we aren't even genin yet!" Minami stared at his mother with wide eyes.

"Exactly. It is a surveillance mission of sorts. C-rank because of the distance. But no shinobi can do it because of the politics. You two are more than capable to be genin already but you are still in the Academy so the political stand is a moot point in this case." Nanami stood up from her chair and walked to stand by the window, watching out of it, over Tanigakure.

"What do you want us to do then… Torino-sama?" Akio asked.

"You two will go to Konohagakure and watch over Uzumaki Naruto. I, _Namikaze_ Nanami, am your client. You have two months for this mission, take what you need, come in contact with the boy if you want to. But above all, don't get caught by the Anbu or other shinobi. When the months are up you come back and take the Graduation exam once the school year ends."

"Naru-kun? My little cousin?" Minami blinked.

"Yes. Don't tell that to him though if you decide to befriend him." Nanami sighed and her shoulders slumped. "Be careful though, he is more than likely to have Anbu to guard him."

"How do we get to Konoha undetected?" Akio decided to ask then.

"Over the wall, near Hokage monument. There is a blind spot that my brother and I utilized once upon a time."

* * *

 **Year 7 ANT:** Konohagakure no Sato, Atop the Hokage monument

"I can't believe Kaa-chan was right." Minami muttered as the two eleven-almost-twelve-year-olds landed atop of Yondaime's head.

"Did you doubt her knowledge?" Akio asked with plain amusement in his voice.

"No… I doubted that after decades the blind-spot would still exist." The blond boy dead-panned. "I think either Sandaime has gone senile or then someone is also utilizing that spot."

"Someone like… old war-hawk?"

"I officially and unofficially resent that nick-name/title bestowed upon him."

"Just like you resent the fact that some of the Anbu here may or may not have the same codenames that your clan members?"

"Exactly."

Akio sighed. "Did you also take into account that our blood relations may allow us to enter village through the protective barriers? Both of your parents were from Konoha and I was born here."

"That'd be… kinda stupid. Just think about nukenin and such…" Minami frowned and tugged his scarf upwards to cover his chin and mouth. The brunet next to him meanwhile tightened the bandana on his head. Both of the boys were dressed like regular civilians/academy students. They had backpacks but no weapons visible. Naturally.

"Quite right. Now, let's find our target."

* * *

The pair found the little ball of sunshine quite quickly. The seven-year-old Uzumaki Naruto, prankster extraordinaire, Nine-Tail's jinchuuriki, self-declared future Hokage, etc. etc. was running away from some… feathered people. Victims of a prank then. Why wasn't he at the Academy then? Most likely skipping classes.

Minami and Akio had landed on a side alley close by when they heard the approaching commotion. The two pre-teens glanced at each other… and nodded.

"Oi, kid!" Akio yelled, catching Naruto's attention. The small blond looked up to see the brunet gesturing him closer. "This way!"

Meanwhile Minami had pulled a smoke bomb/stink bomb from his pocket. As soon as Naruto had changed directions to them, he lobbed the pellet at the angry mob. The whole street was filled with smoke smelling like rotten eggs and black pepper. By the time the smoke cleared, Akio had already scooped Naruto up and the duo from Tani had leaped onto rooftops, opting to run through them to safety.

"So… What did you do to get them so angry?" Minami asked once the trio stopped by training grounds.

"I dumped syrup and feathers on everyone at the shop." Naruto grinned. As a response, Akio howled in laughter.

"Brilliant! That's classic!"

"Great to see a young and promising prankster!" Minami clapped his hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Nee, who are you guys?" The young jinchuuriki asked. (And yes, Minami and Akio had been briefed about the matter before leaving. And they'd been sworn into secrecy)

"You can call me Nami-niichan and him Aki-niichan. It's close enough to our real names."

"Okay!" The boy chirped. "Nee, nee, are you two ninja? You jumped on the roofs like I've seen the ninja do!"

"We aren't yet. We are still in the Academy…" Akio began. "We'll graduate soon though."

"I'm in the Academy too! I'm on the second grade this year!"

"That sounds great." Minami squatted down next to Naruto and finally sat down, patting the place next to him. The boy promptly claimed the spot and with a little sigh, Akio sat opposite the two blonds. "I bet you've learnt a lot already."

"Not that much… Some lessons are boring."

And so the trio fell into idle chatting. Minami and Akio shared some food they'd packed for the trip with Naruto and got to hear about anything and everything going on in Konoha.

* * *

A day changed into another one. Day became weeks. And eventually weeks became a month.

During those days Naruto went to Academy, didn't skip classes, learnt what he could and then afterwards he'd meet up with his two new niisans. Minami and Akio decided to help the boy in his training (since the teachers either ignored the boy or then actively tried to sabotage him), assist with his pranking (Konoha lived days of terror during that month) and otherwise be awesome friends for him.

"Hey, Naru-kun?" Minami asked one day. It was during the last week of the duo's stay in Konoha. Thus far no one had attempted to chase the two away from the kid, and they'd managed to avoid people trying to catch them. (At least that's what they liked to think. They did know that there was a couple of Anbu always watching Naruto but this far they hadn't managed to sense or spot them. Not for lack of trying though…)

"What is it, Nami-niichan?"

"Are you happy here?" At the question, Akio looked sharply at the older blond. Even though it might've been expected of Minami to eventually ask the question: Naruto was his cousin after all, the reasoning for the question a whole different matter. After all it was the same question Fukurou had asked Akio seven years ago. While the brunet didn't regret his decision, it still had been essentially a kidnapping.

Naruto in the other hand was thinking hard. "I think so." The boy finally nodded.

"You do?" Minami jumped from his spot atop of Fourth Hokage's head to Third one's, where Naruto was. Akio sighed and jumped forwards from his place on the Second Hokage's head. The troublemaker trio was spending the eve at the monument once again and watching the aftermath of their latest prank: tomato sauce and fake blood poured all over the T&I headquarters. It had been glorious and they'd just barely escaped. The word was that one of the joonin there was now out for their blood. Mitarashi Anko if Akio remembered correctly.

"I like Jijii. And I like Teuchi-san and Ayame-chan at Ichiraku. I like Ramen and I like my house. I like training and learning even though some people are mean and stuff is hard." The fox-boy tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't like mean people but when you have been here it hasn't been so bad. And I really like Nami-niichan and Aki-niichan!"

"I see…" But before the blond could continue, a new voice gleefully announced its presence.

"I GOT YA NOW, BRATS!"

"Uh oh…" Minami blinked while Akio promptly scooped the seven-year-old kid up and jumped… off. Right down from the monument, with the blond right on his heels. Above them the afore mentioned jounin, Mitarashi, had jumped up and aimed even a barrage of kunai at the boys.

"How did she find us?!" Akio yelled.

"Heck if I know!" Minami yelled back. Meanwhile Naruto was laughing loudly as the chase began anew on the streets and roof tops of Konoha.

* * *

Minami was sitting at Ichiraku's and writing a letter/report home. It was on a code. The one that nowadays only he, his mother and his mother's team(Fukurou, Shigure and Mari) knew. And Akio. Minami had taught it to him in secret.

"A large chicken ramen for you, young man." Teuchi placed a big bowl next to Minami's left elbow. The blond looked up from his writing and smiled up at the man, with his blue eyes crinkling.

"Thank you Teuchi-san. Looks delicious once again."

The man laughed merrily. "You are showering this old man in praises every time you come here! Just like one of my old regulars…"

"Ho? But wouldn't I praise the ramen here? It's cheaper than the stuff in restaurants yet exceeds with taste." Minami grinned, while rolling up the scroll and putting aside his writing utensils. He could finish it later. One of Torino Clan's summons would come to pick it up later during the night anyways.

"A ha ha haa! Just like Minato-kun used to be."

At the name the boy perked up. While the name wasn't exactly _unusual_ … The circles were small, especially among the shinobi. The blond broke apart his chopsticks and eyed the noodles and other food in the broth. What to eat first…?

"Minato? Used to be?"

The words seemed to catch Teuchi from his moment of nostalgia.

"Ah, yes. Namikaze Minato-kun. He used to visit here regularly. More so after meeting and starting to date Kushina-kun. And he even stopped by occasionally after being made a Hokage."

"A village celebrity then?"

"You could say so. Right now our best customer is young Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

Minami noted how Teuchi omitted both Kushina's surname and Naruto's any possible relation to the couple. But naturally he didn't say anything.

"Aa… It's thanks to Naru-kun that I found this place. I've never eaten better Ramen." The not-quite-genin-yet grinned whilst eating the noodles.

"It's good to see that Naruto-kun has new friends. Speaking of which… Where is that other kid? Aki-kun, was it?"

"Aki? He's… around. Probably snuck into library because he got bored. I might join him shortly. After this lunch maybe."

"One miso ramen, please!" A new voice filled the air. A familiar voice. A voice that technically shouldn't have been there. Minami looked over his shoulder to look at the newcomer. It was Fukurou. But he didn't wear his shinobi clothes or hitai-ate. There wasn't even Torino Clan's symbol in his clothes. So he was unofficially here and didn't want to be addressed as Fukurou. The substitute real name it was then.

"Okuto-nii, what are you doing here?" Minami asked when the young man took his seat. The pair of mismatched eyes looked at the boy for a moment.

"I came to check up on you, Nami-kun. And collect your essay." Essay equals report.

"'tis not ready yet. Did Kaa-chan send you?"

"Yes. And if you are late next time with it, I'll come back and drag you and Aki-kun both back home. From your ankles."

Translated that meant: be punctual in returning from your mission, don't miss report deadlines again (Minami may have procrastinated with his last report) or Niichan will make your return as difficult and painful as possible.

"'Kay." Minami simply said a slurped more noodles. Soon Okuto/Fukurou had his own bowl and struck a conversation with Teuchi. It seemed that just like with Naruto, the man knew a lot of what was going on in the village. Maybe he heard from the kid, since he was a regular. In daily basis.

And because it seemed to be such a lazy day with few customers, Minami decided to after all finish writing his report at the ramen stall, after eating his chicken ramen. The boy was just applying finishing touches on it, when a third person came to the stall.

"I should've known to find you two here." Akio sighed.

"Ah, Aki-kun. How are you?" Okuto asked.

"Fine… Finished my research. I'm going to head to training grounds soon. Wanna join me?"

"No thanks." Minami declined while rolling up his scroll and giving it to Okuto. "I need to do some research on my own."

"I think I'll be heading back now… But before I go, happy birthday, Aki-kun." Okuto gave a little parcel to the brunet. "I know you want to specialize in thrown weapons so it's important to keep your eyes safe and make sure nothing obscures your sight."

Akio took the parcel and unwrapped the fabric to reveal… A pair of blue tinted goggles. And the fabric used as a wrapping paper was a new bandana.

"Arigatou, Okuto-niisan." Akio grinned and slipped the goggles over his eyes. The new bandana he tied around his neck since he already had one on his head.

"You are welcome. I'll be heading back now. See you two in a month, and work hard for your graduation, okay?" Okuto grinned.

"Sure! Nee, Okuto-niichan, d'you think we'll end up in the same team?" Minami asked abruptly. The young man paused, thinking, before paying for both his and Minami's ramen.

"I think it's possible… But it's more likely that the teachers try to separate you two. But one of you will definitely be in my team." He ruffled the hair of the two boys before using Flicker to leave.

"So… research?" Akio spoke to the silence left behind. His left hand was absently fiddling with the new goggles before lifting them on his forehead.

"Hai." Minami nodded. "So… training?"

"Hai. Maybe Naruto-kun will join me once his lessons end for the day."

* * *

Eventually the last month rolled past too and it was the time for Minami and Akio to leave. Tearful goodbyes were shared between Naruto and Minami while Akio looked away awkwardly. Many promises were extracted from each other. Akio promised to visit soon while Minami promised to learn really cool jutsus to show Naruto later. Naruto promised to keep learning and pranking, and also not to give up.

After one more half-hearted attempt from Minami to goad Naruto to leave with them to Tani _(not that the village was mentioned by name)_ , they finally waved a good bye and disappeared the same way they'd arrived.

* * *

During the entire time the two boys had stayed, people had been keeping an eye on them. Minami and Akio had been aware of that but they did not know how extensively that had happened.

Naturally Hokage had heard from Naruto that he had _'two really cool niichans who help with training and pranks'_ but that was all really. Ironically the boy was more loyal to the two Tani citizens than to his Jijii, so he kept secret most of the interaction he'd had during the two months.

Then there was the few Anbu guards who'd rotated in watching the kid. Dog, Boar, Crow, Mantis and others by mask of something or other.

Dog – Inu – was sort of obvious. That was Hatake Kakashi. Copy-ninja or Sharingan no Kakashi in the Bingo-book. Said to have copied hundreds of techniques. He was the only student of Yondaime Hokage still alive and tended to have an apathetic, lazy and generally uncaring outlook on life. Depression was suspected but the man refused therapy. If he wasn't on missions or being challenged by his 'Eternal Rival' Might Guy, then he could be found on training ground Three, by the Memorial Stone.

Boar – Inoshishi – was more obscure but in this case it was almost appropriate but most of all ironic that he was assigned to watch after Naruto. Considering that boy's new friends that is. That Anbu's name was Shiranui Genma. He used to belong to Yondaime's Hokage guard detail but… Well, like in Kakashi's case, the death of Namikaze Minato had shook him badly. Not to mention the disappearance of his brother shortly afterwards. Being an Anbu gave anonymity and stability in a sense. And one could always ask to be transferred back to the regular corps.

Crow – Karasu – was a recent addition. Just last year. He was one of the youngest: Uchiha Itachi. The boy was stoic by nature, had nigh unconditional loyalty to the village and was a pacifist in his heart.

Mantis – Kamakiri – was Crow's primary partner. Uchiha Shisui. It was kept tightly under wraps that there was two scions of the infamous clan to watch over the jinchuuriki. But the two were trustworthy. _(There was also other guards too, like Cat(Neko) and Spider(Kumo), but they weren't that important.)_

But. To the case of point. When Minami and Akio were spotted with Naruto for the first time, Dog and Boar hadn't thought much of it. A bit relieved that Naruto got safely away without the Anbu needing to interfere and generally amused by the event, but nothing else. The two looked like genin or Academy students on their final year. Nothing to suspect.

But then the details didn't start to add up. There was no students matching the duo's description. Especially not that of 'Nami'. Moreover, Boar noted uncomfortably, 'Aki' hit a bit too close to home. Both by the name given and his looks.

The pranks were… ingenious, borderline dangerous and some downright suicidal for the pranksters. The troublesome trio had their watchers' hands full, even of those of Crow and Mantis. Though Mantis found it all quite humorous and regaled the tales later to Uchiha Kisaru. But at the same time the pranks were a testament of skill. The way the kids managed to evade their irate victims and in general managed to execute them, was brilliant. Sometime they even managed to lose the Anbu from their heels.

Then began the more worrying signs. 'Nami' would occasionally ask Naruto questions that belied another purpose. The blond stranger would also write something on a scroll with a code that no one recognized. _(Minato had never had the chance or reason to teach it to his own students, due the war more standard chipters had been used.)_ In the next day the scroll was gone and a week later a new one was in use. Not to mention how no one seemed to know where those boys had come from or where they stayed the night _(It was at Naruto's apartment. Akio made the kid bento lunch everyday. The duo just moved in and out of the apartment when Anbu wasn't around and made sure they suppressed their chakra signatures all the time.)_.

Around exactly on the one month mark, three other people had appeared on the village. One just poofed in, like the boys had. The other two came through the gates, like any other civilian. It hadn't been any notable in a sense. But the one that appeared, met up with the two boys and took the scroll. And spoke to them like he could be a jounin-sensei to either of them. That information was from Teuchi of Ichiraku Ramen who happened to hear everything. Meanwhile the other two had be seen heading to the cemetery when it had begun to rain. And afterwards when the pair had left, a chakra disturbance had been found upon the grave of one Nohara Rin. An Anbu squad had been sent after them but they were already long gone.

Even after the boys had left (The tearful goodbyes and their not-so-sudden absence had been hard not to notice.) the unease they left behind wouldn't been dissipated for years. And in the end no one knew who they were. Not even Naruto. It wouldn't be until two years later when chuunin exams were being held in Konoha, that the duo would make an appearance with their teams. And two of the three suspicious people would indeed be their jounin senseis… As a certain Nara would say: Troublesome.

* * *

 **A/N: Aand... that's a wrap. At least of this chapter. No new characters introduced really. In the next chapter will be the formation of Minami's team. Teehee hee... And some scheduling conflicts... because in a sense the chapter should happen _after_ the Uchiha massacre... But in a sense this chapter was a year _before_... Though in the end it wasn't specified how long it was from the end of this mission to the graduation...**

 **Well, if you have any questions just ask. Right now it seems like there will around fourteen chapters before canon begins... I might chop some in two though.**

 **()**

 **By the way... The Ghost Pond is some of the most amazing things I came up with. Just saying. I still need to smooth out some details with it, just like with how exactly Nanami's role differs from that of her husband. Because I pretty much have her as the Kawabara despite what I initially planned. I blame Tsunade... She is just a badass...**

 **Oh, I'm also redrawing my character designs. When I have a chance I'll submit them to deviantArt. :) But there is some old(bad quality photographed) drawings too already if you are interested. My username is _Tsukiko75014_ there. Just look for _Manga and anime -inspired_ folder and you'll find them. ;)**


	6. The Owlets

**A/N: Hey guys... I'm back. In this chapter you'll have more characters introduced. And some re-introduced.**

* * *

 **Chapter six: The Owlets**

 **Year 7 ANT:** Shinobi Academy of Tani, Fire Section of the village

"…From this day onwards, you are shinobi of Tanigakure no Sato." Nanami finished her speech and looked around the new batch of genin seated by the desks. "Fill out your ninja registration form and turn it in at the Office. You have time 'til end of the week when you all will gather here to hear your team assignments."

The graduation process had been a tight and strict process. Unlike in Konoha, Tani ensured that their genin were actually ready. Of course the team leaders made their own assessment of their teams too, but the way the teams were structured, was a delicate process already. Elemental affinity, skill level, temperament, direction of specialization… It all mattered. Especially when there was less civilian born shinobi than at Konoha. And the team structures could still change if some new children came to the village from outside (either from other countries or having been exclusively been trained by their own clan. That was rare though.). And honestly, Nanami preferred it here. The system had the humane approach from Konoha but the efficiency seen at other villages.

The blonde woman sighed as she watched the children (preteens between ages 9 and 13) scramble out of the classroom and pick the registration form from the teacher's desk. From the corner of her eye she saw Minami and Akio shuffle a pack of cards together. Hanafuda cards actually, probably borrowed from Aoi Katana. The Aoi heiress was surprisingly close to Minami despite her graduation years ago. Though, they only had a year of an age difference.

"I'm just glad this class is graduating now…" The teacher of the class Fong Mai sighed, slumping into her chair. The chuunin had been teaching this class since the beginning but was going to take the joonin exam soon and get her own genin team in a couple of years. Apparently it was once thing to teach brats who had already proven themselves and another thing to teach brats who virtually knew nothing of the art of Shinobi. A cynic would say that that was why they were being taught but… well…

"Now, they weren't that bad, were they?" Nanami smiled at the younger woman. Mai huffed and brushed her inky locks away from her amethyst colored eyes before tightening the knot that tied of her forehead protector.

"Whatever you say, Nanami-sama… You son might be almost a prodigy but he is still a child like all the rest of the brats here." Mai gestured the now-empty classroom. The roughness of her speech seemed forced but no one paid attention to it anymore. Or to the light henge the woman wore like a second skin. It had been over ten years, during the last war, when the chuunin had abandoned her post on the war front and defected to Tani. Back then she was Hyuuga Hotaru, a member of a Branch House. And in the end no one missed her. They thought she was dead. And because of the seal on her forehead, the secrets of the Byakugan would be safe too…

This was also naturally a secret of the highest order, hence the henge.

"Well… I'll see you in a week, Mai-san. Enjoy your days off before you return to missions."

The black-haired woman groaned again. "You are assigning me with Botan and Ueno, aren't you?"

Nanami laughed again at the ex-Hyuuga's plight. "Better than teaching 'brats', right? Those two are also aiming for jounin-sensei in a year or two, so I think you better get reacquainted with your old team mates."

"Hai, hai…"

* * *

The teams were being assigned. Minami couldn't stay in his seat. He was full of excitement. While being in the same team with Akio was doubtful, he still couldn't wait to see who he'd get in the same team with him. Only one thing was strange though… There was eight jounin standing at the front of the classroom, behind Mai-sensei. But the amount of kids who graduated this year… There was one too few for full eight teams. A glance at Akio told the blond that the other boy had noticed it too.

The call went on. And on… Four first teams had been assigned already.

"Team Five. Ishihara Shiro… Namida Yumi… and Shiranui Akio. Your jounin-sensei is Nohara Mari." A brown haired woman waved to the class. Minami recognized the name. It was Fukurou-niichan's old teammate. Akio was lucky. And the other team mates weren't too bad either. Shiro had brilliant earth affinity and Yumi was an aspiring healer. Minami sent a thumbs up to his friend who grinned right back at him. Now… if only he'd have as good of a team.

"…. And lastly, team Eight. Kazekoi Minami… Kumokuro Aikira… and Hikari Sen. Your jounin-sensei is Torino Fukurou." Mai rolled up the scroll. "Now… You all have time to discuss a minute with your friends but when your jounin-sensei calls for your team, you are expected to follow them."

"Hai!" The class chorused. Except Minami. And probably Aikira too. Because there had been no Hikari Sen in the class during any of these years. And – Minami did a quick headcount – there was no new kids in the classroom either. So it was a new kid then. Completely new, not even from Kawa. Because if it had been a clan kid from outside the village, they'd been here already, listening to the listing. Minami snuck a glance on the Hikari in the team Four, Kokoro. She looked surprised too. Apparently she knew no 'Sen' in her clan. A recent adoptee then? How recent? This week? But why put the new kid with graduates then? Had they graduated recently? If so, why had they changed the villages so quickly?

"Bah… Too many questions." Minami sighed, just in time to see Fukurou gesturing him and Aikira to follow. "See ya later, Aki."

"The regular time and place?" Akio asked, looking up from his conversation with Yumi.

"Sure."

* * *

The roof of the Academy. Of _course_ that was the place they met at. Minami and Fukurou were both Torino's. One way or the other. Aikira seemed comfortable up there though. No wonder. The ' _Kumo_ ' in his clan name meant spider, not cloud. Kumokuro's were sort of like the Aburame's, but they didn't have bugs in their body. Instead they had other techniques. Not that Minami knew too much about them yet.

"Nanami-sama is bringing our final team mate soon." Fukurou spoke, gesturing the two boys to take a seat on one of the benches.

"Do you know anything about them, sensei?" Aikira asked, frowning slightly behind his large, round sunglasses.

"Sen-chan…" So they was a girl then. "She had recently rough time at her village. Konoha if you really want to know. She graduated few weeks ago but left before she was assigned into a team. She and her sister asked for refugee here and the Hikari clan took them in. Their cousin is staying with Torino's for a while though but is going to leave then."

"Is this… really secret information, Fukurou-nii?" Minami decided to ask then. He remembered how the man's own identity was also concealed after he'd decided to stay away from Konoha after his supposed death.

"Her past is deemed S-rank secret, much like my own." S-rank, ouch. Minami and Akio only had B-rank secrecy stamp. Minami because of his mother's connections, Akio because he was technically kidnapped. "It's her choice if she wants to tell to you guys and I hope within this team we can eventually completely trust each other."

This was probably a bit awkward to Aikira because Minami and Fukurou already knew each other.

"Sorry we are late." Nanami spoke from the direction of the east side of the roof. The door to the stairs was at the north side. Meaning that the woman had ninja-jumped up on the roof. All three floors plus ground floor. With a kid on her back. What a show-off. (Just like her brother occasionally was. Especially with the new jutsu-names.)

"Ah, just in time, Nanami-sama." And it was so weird to hear Fukurou address her like that. Minami slumped on his seat for a moment before straightening his back once again. Nanami was walking toward the trio and had a black-haired girl with her. The girl was tiny, probably way younger than Minami and Aikira, but she also had a certain feeling of strength on her. Her obsidian eyes observed everyone and everything on the roof. Minami had a feeling he'd seen the girl somewhere during his stay in Konoha. But where…?

"Alright then, this is Hikari Sen. She'll be joining your team from now on." Nanami introduced the girl. Sen offered a short nod but didn't take her eyes off them. "A~nd I'll leave you guys to it." The woman smirked before Flickering away.

"Right." Fukurou clapped his hand together cheerily. "Sen-chan, take a seat with Minami-kun and Aikira-kun. We were just about to introduce ourselves to each other."

"Hai." The girl mumbled and went to sit down. Way away from the boys.

"I'll start then. This is the simple way to get basics and sort of one's own opinion of themselves. Nothing too complex or formal. I already know the Academy report of each of you." The Torino clan member explained. Sen flinched minutely at 'Academy report'. "So… name, age, likes and dislikes, hobby and dream. Or future aspiration if you want to. And other information is also welcome."

"Will you be going first then, sensei?" Aikira asked.

"Sure. I'm Torino Fukurou, I'm twenty-one years old joonin of Fire Affinity. I like teamwork and my old teammates, I appreciate trust between members above everything. I also like training whenever I'm not on a mission. I dislike arrogant pricks who belittle people who try their best. My hobby… Eh, I like to relax occasionally and help other people. My dream… We'll that's a good question but currently I'd like to hone you three into a working combat unit that can trust each other and themselves. Now, why don't you begin Aikira-kun."

"My name is Kumokuro Aikira. I'm eleven. I recently graduated so I'm still genin. My affinity is Water like it's most likely in Kawa. I like the forests by our clan compound and conversing with our clan's summons. I dislike pests whether they are bugs, rats or even people." The slightly tanned boy began. Minami refused to sweat drop, apparently Kumokuro's weren't _that_ alike to Aburame after all… "My hobbies are to draw different arachnids and clean. Currently my dream is to rise in ranks and become stronger."

"Stronger? For what?" Fukurou asked.

"There are threads of tension in the air. We need to get stronger. All of us if we desire to survive."

Right. Not cryptic at all. But then… Kumokuro's had this strange… spidey-sense.

"Okay. Next, Minami-kun."

"I'm Kazekoi Minami but I'm part of Torino Clan. I'm a twelve-year-old genin. My Elemental Affinity is Lighting, same than my Tou-san's but I guess I'll be able to use Wind jutsus eventually too. I like researching new things, ramen, travelling when possible, talking with… people." Dead people. "I dislike bullies and people who try to kiss up my ass in order to gain favor with Kaa-san and Taka-san. My hobbies are researching – especially sealing – pranking with Akio, training and learning stuff." Learning from the stories of dead. "My dream… I want to create my own jutsus, pick apart and improve current ones, and become great Shinobi like my Tou-san and Yondaime Hokage."

Sen twitched but began speaking before Fukurou addressed her.

"My… name is Hikari Sen. I recently became part of Hikari Clan. I'm nine years old. I'm of Wind Affinity, unlike my previous… family was. I like… my sister and cousins. I dislike corruption and senseless hate. My hobbies… I've always like sewing and making kimono designs. The Hikari say that if I'm really good I can look at Koyomi-sama's old designs." Koyomi was the ancestor of one of the branches of Hikari clan. Her son and his wife came to Tani and were taken in by the clan. The woman herself hadn't stepped on the soil of Tani but was still revered for a reason or other by the other members of the clan. Currently the only descendant of that branch was Hikari Hiro. And even then the family name came from the boy's mother. His real family name was a secret that not even Nanami knew. So for the new girl to be even _possibly_ allowed to see something so significant part of Koyomi-sama's legacy… It was strange and amazing.

"…My dream is to change this world and bring my family together again." The girl ended with a whisper. A silence followed. Minami blinked. Aikira was his quiet self. Fukurou merely nodded with a gentle smile to her direction before turning to speak to all three of them.

"Now we know about each other but not that much. Rest of the trust must be refined through experience, training and general interaction between each other. You three have the rest of the day off but tomorrow we'll meet at seven o'clock at training ground eight. It's at Earth sector. Sen-chan, if you need help, I can come and pick you up tomorrow morning."

"A-Ah… No… It's fine. I've been looking around during this week. I can find my way." Sen smiled slightly.

"Alright then. Pack a light gear. I'm going to have you three go through a traditional genin test I also went through when I graduated."

Minami didn't like the feeling of dread he got from his niichan's – no, _sensei_ 's smile.

* * *

Minami collapsed on the ground. He was breathing hard. The wary feeling from yesterday had been right. The… survival exercise, as Fukurou called it, had been pure torture. Two bells, a time limit and a threat of missing a lunch…

First of all, Fukurou had been late. Something about helping his neighbors with groceries and then falling into one of the numerous rivers of Tani. Considering that the man's clothes were still damp, it might've actually been true.

Secondly, Sen was terrifying force of nature. For a nine-year old, she had tremendous amount of talent though her chakra pools didn't match Minami's.

Thirdly, never ever go in the way of one of the Kumokuro clan's jutsu. You end up stuck. In a web. And the range of the jutsu is very large so you should be either behind the user or then have some really quick Flicker.

Fourthly, despite Fukurou's jovial nature, he was still joonin. And he beat all three genin to the ground.

It was towards the end of time limit when Fukurou finally made the trio stop.

"Alright. You three have two choices now. Either you give up and I tie you all up and eat lunch in front of you so you essentially have failed this exercise… Or then I lift the time limit, let you regroup and you try again. Since the time limit has been lifted we may be here until the end of the day or even through the night."

The three genin exchanged a glance. Silently and unanimously a decision was made.

"We keep trying." Minami announced. He didn't know why or when he was made the leader and spokesperson of them but at the same time he didn't mind. Aikira was obviously of the silent type while Sen preferred to observe other's reactions to them.

But, apparently their answer was the right one as Fukurou grinned and vanished with a Flicker.

* * *

Aikira was the strategist. Oh, Minami and Sen weren't any slouches either when it came to planning and mental battles but Aikira definitely trounced them in long term strategies. Tactics anyone could come up with but in this case they needed to win the whole battle, not just a single fight. This was about completing the entire mission, not to take down a singular ambush.

So Aikira was on the lead this time. The other two were munching ration bars while listening.

"You both are front liners but I need someone to set traps. I will be the other one's support."

Minami and Sen exchanged a glance. The blond raised his hand.

"I can handle the traps. I have experience in pranking an' all so I'm quick with them."

"Oh yes… You and Akio-san's pranks…" Aikira's lips twitched, matching his wry tone only barely. "Sen-san, what are your specialty jutsus?"

"Um… I recently tested that my affinity is Wind but previously I've been using Fire techniques. Though they are hard and chakra consuming for me, I know those techniques the best. I'm also good at genjutsu."

Fire and genjutsu? Those definitely were _not_ Hikari Clan's specialties… Like their family name indicated, they played with light but with Wind and Lighting affinities. And while they can make illusions and tricks of light, it's purely their clan techniques, not genjutsu. Well, Fukurou did say that she was from Konoha originally. Minami needed to do some more research.

"Alright then, Sen-san, I already saw your taijutsu profess so you begin with that. I will back you up with weaponry because my clan jutsus might just hinder you. We'll buy time for Minami-san before luring or chasing Fukurou-sensei into the traps. Minami-san, how long do you think you need?"

"Depends how much we are going to need of the traps but… five minutes. Speaking of which, don't use genjutsu on Fukurou-niisan."

"Why not?" Sen frowned.

"His eyes. I'm not sure of the details because no one will tell me…" At that Minami pouted. He _knew_ that Fukurou had originally some other name. He _knew_ the man was saved by Torino Karasu. He _knew_ the man was awesome niichan, if late with random excuses to be picked apart. But he didn't know _who_ he had been. And while he understood the logic why he wasn't told things, well… "But he made it to Iwa's Bingo Book with his team mates a couple of years ago. His epithet is 'Seer'. Apparently his left eye sees the past and the right one future. Because of that, he can ground himself to present and thus can't be fooled by genjutsu. I tried to ask Kaa-chan about it but she told me that Fukurou-niichan will tell me more when he deems it necessary."

"I see…" Aikira murmured. "Then we won't use genjutsu. But the basic plan goes like this…"

* * *

It took hours and it was bordering to the end of daylight. But they did it. With Sen's ninjutsu, Aikira's bukijutsu and Minami's traps and taijutsu, they managed to get the bells. Though Minami had the sneaking suspicion that Fukurou had let them catch the bells in the end. As a reward or something for already completing the primary goal of the exercise: teamwork, assessment of their skills and not giving up but falling back and trying again. He was a nice teacher like that.

And now the Team Eight was lying on the ground once again, trying to regain their breath whilst coming down from an adrenaline rush. And they had visitors.

"That was awesome, Minami-nii!" A kind of childish girl voice echoed on the clearing. Next to the three genin, Fukurou chuckled.

"Tsubame-chan… Even I know your voice does not match your thoughts." Minami stated with a groan as he heaved himself on his feet. Sen and Aikira did the same next to him. In the shadow of a cherry tree(that had already lost its petals) was two teens. One was Torino Tsubame, Minami's sort-of-cousin and childhood friend. She'd graduate from the Academy next year. The other was a boy a bit older than her. Not much. Maybe a mere year, like Minami. But the two were about the same height, had similar hair styles, were dressed in black and blue… One could've thought them twins even though the other boy had strange lines going down his face, next to his cheeks.

"Mou, Minami-nii, must you be such a sourpuss." The girl pouted but smirked then. "It was really awesome to see Fukurou-nii beat you all up!" She chirped.

"You little devil…"

"Anyways, this is Karasu-nii. He will be staying at Torino district for a while before moving on."

Karasu… Minami didn't frown. Apparently the clan had decided to take the boy in temporarily and in order to protect his real identity, he'd been given the protection of bird name. That was… rare. Not to mention that he had appeared around the same time than Sen and her sister…

"Souka… Nice to meet you, Karasu-kun. I'm Kazekoi Minami."

"Likewise." Karasu spoke, bowing shallowly. And then there was a blur of blue that collided on the boy with an 'oomph'. It was Sen.

"Itachi-niisan! I missed you!" The girl smiled brightly, her quiet demeanor completely gone. So they _were_ familiar. Itachi… A name to be filed away for later use.

"Aa… I missed you too… Sen-chan." Karasu – no, Itachi – patted the girl's head. They were obviously related. That degree of affection couldn't be faked(at least not easily) and there was some similar features on their faces as well as on their demeanor. And when Minami thought about it…

"I take it that Tsubame-chan has been showing you around Karasu-kun."

"Hn." Now, _that_ was a response Minami had only heard during his stay in Konoha. Now who said it…?

"We already visited The Four Deaths. Saki-san is getting well along with Mirai-san, Suzume-san and _Katana_ -san." Damn, the little she-devil sent a smug smirk on the blond's direction. Minami studiously ignored it. He had a crush on Katana-chan, so what?

"Ah, Shigure is training them, right?" Fukurou spoke again.

"And driving them to the ground." Tsubame nodded.

"That broody prat." There was only fond annoyance in the man's voice. He then turned to address Minami and Aikira. "C'mon, let's get something to eat and celebrate our new team. I'll pay."

"Yosh!" Minami threw his hands in the air. Finally! He was so hungry. And it was way past dinner time.

"Tsubame-chan and Karasu-kun are welcome to join us too."

"Sure thing, Fukurou-nii!"

Right… And when Minami really thought about it… Fukurou resembled Itachi and Sen too, didn't he?

* * *

The boy finally squeezed the truth out of his mother weeks later when he saw Itachi's face on Konoha's Bingo Book. It was the moment many pieces slotted into the place. How the Uchiha Massacre had occurred right before Saki and Sen's appearance to the village. How Itachi was called Karasu. How Fukurou's right eye _'could see the future'_.

It was an understatement to say that Minami was displeased for the facts presented. The corruption in Konoha being one of them. But the boy swallowed it all down and swore not to tell anyone. Maybe eventually Sen and Fukurou (Ayame and Obito) would trust him and Aikira enough to tell themselves.

* * *

 **A/N: Right. I guess introductions are in order now. And I finally figured out a good reason for Nanami to have that much stuff to do instead of her husband. Taka has also his job as the Clan Head so he needs to split his time with the Elders, the Village Council and Kawabara duties. So Nanami handles part of the latter.**

 **-Hikari Sen: Or Uchiha Ayame. Like I mentioned in the third chapter she is really old character. And I'm definitely not going to tell you her original story. That's... way too Sue-ish. But now you've gotten a better glimpse of her. Minami and Aikira both were characters solely created so she could have a genin team. And now the team is assembled! BTW, Ayame doesn't have Sharingan yet and won't have for a couple of years.**

 **-Fong Mai/Hyuuga Hotaru: At first it was just a name for Tsubame's future joonin sensei but then I began thinking 'what if'... I mean the way some of the Torino Clan can train their sensing ability to center to their eyes is somewhat close to Byakugan. And I already had some Uchiha's in the village so why not have a Hyuuga too.**

 **-Kumokuro Aikira: Originally he was an Aburame. During the time when the character was in Konoha with Ayame and Minami. But then this happened. So no bugs. I just need to figure out his clan jutsus so they won't be too close to Kidomaru's creepy-ass techniques...**

 **-Fukurou/Obito: I hope I got his personality right... He's been healing physically and mentally for a long time. In the next chapter we'll have some moments between him and his second team.**

 **-Tsubame: Yes, she looks like a copy of Itachi. And her real name is Itami. It... was not a coincidence though when creating the character. I'll explain it later when she makes a proper appearance.**

 **()**

 **Right... you know ppl... I'd really love it if you were to review. I know you are reading these chapters because I can see the numbers but I'm no mind reader so I don't know whether you like this or not... At least tell me if you already have a favourite character out of my numerous OCs... Or who do you ship with who? Or... what would you think if one of my characters would turn out to be a self-insert?**


	7. Broken Pieces

**A/N: Okay... I've got the new chapter here. As you can see I'm quite a bit focusing on Nanami and co. with these... Soon will be more about my younger characters who will be meeting the main crew of Naruto series too... But for now I'm playing with favourites.**

 **Thank you for adding my story to your favourites and following. It makes me really happy. Cyber cookies for you all!**

* * *

 **Chapter seven: Broken pieces**

When Nanami had been introduced to her new team, her first thought had been: how an earth was she going to help these kids?

Because really, all three of them were more or less broken. All because of the last war.

Fukurou – Obito – was obvious. She already knew his story. Thankfully the boy was slowly getting better, with training occupying his time. But being ripped away from everything he knew… and losing even more people while being away, had not been good for his psyche.

Mari was from a slowly dying clan, trying her best not to break under pressure and emotional neglect. The Nohara's were brilliant medics with their natural born chakra control but they had… some were more career than family oriented. It was already bad enough that the clan had been split between Konoha and Tani for the last three decades and neither faction wanted to associate with the other. Currently Mari and her little sister Rui were the youngest, with Rin of Konoha having died months previously.

Shigure was a mystery. He had a fiery but frigid temper to match his pale orange hair but it seemed forcefully restrained. Well, he'd witnessed his friends – surrogate family – getting slaughtered before his very own eyes and older brother figure taking his own life. He was dangerously quiet, ready to strike unexpectedly with a deadly precision. The senbons he had were just a testament of the fact.

But, anything was possible. And in the end it took only one instance for the team knit together and start mending each other's wounds. Nanami could only sigh in relief when she realized she didn't need to do all the work alone.

* * *

 **Year NT, July:** Close to Mountain's Graveyard

"Oh…"

It was a soft remark accompanied by slowing steps. But because it was Shigure, it drew everyone's attention to him. They had been heading back to Tani from their mission when their surroundings had roused that reaction from the boy.

"Shigure? Is everything alright?" Nanami asked, turning around and leading the other two to stop too. The orange-haired boy was looking around the place with a thoughtful face.

"Aa… It's just that… around a year ago I… was here." Shigure spoke slowly, weighting his words and his eyes flickering between his three team members.

"You were? Why?" Mari frowned. The boy merely waved a hand.

"Just travelling around before coming to Tani. Needed to distance myself from Ame…" The boy was obviously distracted now. Nanami took some deliberate steps towards the boy and grasped his shoulders.

"Shigure, what happened here?"

"Not here but close-by. I… I can take you there." And with no other word the ex-Akatsuki member jumped to the right, away from their intended destination. Concerned about his behavior Nanami followed after him, Mari and Fukurou not far behind her, though Fukurou was oddly quiet.

* * *

It took only ten minutes or so for them to reach a wrecked clearing. Stone ruptured everywhere, dislocated and uprooted trees. Obvious signs of a battle, with clothed skeletons littering the area. From the way they were positioned, they'd been surrounding something or someone. And they all had masks with Kiri symbol on them.

"I killed them all." Shigure stated from his place in front of Nanami. He was blankly staring at the destruction. "I don't even know why. Just… felt like it. Like I had to."

"You used Suiton: Ame Senbon on them. Quick and effective." Nanami analyzed. "What about the people in the center?" She gestured the area towards which all Kiri-nin had been facing to.

"I didn't know them. Nevertheless I decided to shield them from my own technique when it was clear they weren't capable of doing it themselves."

Beside them, Fukurou was slowly walking towards the center. All the while both of his eyes were feverishly flickering from one spot to another.

"Fuku-…" Mari's call was cut off when Nanami raised a hand to signal her to be quiet. The all were now focused on the black-haired boy. Even Shigure who just moments before had been struggling over his decision to slaughter Kiri-nin.

"Rin died here. I can see her chakra signature… And I remember what Kakashi's eye saw. It's this place. And Chidori…" The boy was gesturing a line. A route of an attack that only he could see anymore. Considering that the fight taking place here was probably the only one since then, it was entirely possible that Fukurou was tracking down the entirety of the fight. Who used what jutsu, of what strength, on whom… "And there is something enormous that died with Rin. Something huge…"

Nanami's eye sharpened at the information. This situation was too strange. The mere amount of enemies belied that.

"Mari, Shigure, examine the corpses. We need all possible information we can gather." The woman received nods from the pair and strode then to the remaining member of her team. "Obito… Describe the enormous thing to me."

"Something… dormant. Angry but not malicious. It just wanted to be left alone. Strong genjutsu preference along with Water affinity… Three… Three something." The boy seemed to be at loss of words. Nanami pulled his hitai-ate down to cover both of his eyes and put into words what Obito seemed to imply.

"Kiri sealed Sanbi into Rin?"

"Hai. She… jumped in front of Kakashi's Chidori."

"I see. Rest now. We examine this place and then discuss what we found." The blonde helped the boy to sit down on the ground. While Obito had 'witnessed' Rin's death months ago already, it was still a… a shocking and traumatizing experience to 'see' who'd actually taken her life and what was going around the event. Nanami could only hope that with the information gathered here, Obito would finally reach a closure.

* * *

Obito fell into restless slumber. Half-forced but Nanami couldn't help it. She couldn't afford the boy freaking out right now. Information came first. While that was an insensitive approach to the situation, it was the only route she currently saw.

Shigure and Mari worked in silence. There was several old seals gathered from the Kiri-nin. Mind-seals, body-seals, hypnosis-seals… And Nanami had the uncomfortable feeling that there had been a seal in Rin too aside from the one that sealed Sanbi inside of her.

And when the night fell, they made a camp nearby. Far enough though that they didn't directly see to the battle field. Obito was also roused from his sleep and the four of them began going through all the information they had. Mari had examined the wounds and fractures still seen on the half-decayed bodies. Shigure had managed to collect his thoughts and told how he'd stayed with Kakashi and Rin until the back-up from Konoha arrived. Obito whole-heartedly thanked the older boy.

"I wish that Rin didn't had to die… But I understand why she chose to do so." Obito spoke sadly. "And I know that even though I asked Kakashi to protect Rin…"

"The circumstances were entirely out of his capability range. He still managed to free Rin from her captivity even though it seems like she was let go." Nanami reasoned. "If the events were any fresher I guess we could try to track down the place the sealing happened… I'm certain though that they were being chased intentionally towards Konoha so… something terrible would happen. There is no other reason for Kiri to seal _their_ Bijuu into a Konoha-nin."

"So she was used as a… as a…"

"As a means to end. Even though strategically that doesn't make any sense because Kiri was back then, and still is, at the brink of civil war and suffering from the losses of last war that ended shortly after your mission to Kannabi Bridge, Obito."

"Kannabi Bridge? Obito? I thought your name was Fukurou… And how did you know the names of the two Konoha-nin?" Mari frowned. At this Nanami and Obito sighed both. The boy looked uncertainly at the woman who merely shook her head.

"It's your choice, Obito."

In the end the discussion helped to strengthen the bond between team members. Obito had his closure, vowed to cherish his memories of Rin and decided to turn his Sharingan towards the future. And with Shigure, Mari, Nanami and others by his side he could definitely do it.

Mari learned about the youngest member of her clan apart from her little sister. The girl had barely even known that Rin had existed. So badly inflamed the relations between the two factions were. But she drew strength from it and decided to stick to her friends and help them in any way she could, just like little Nohara Rin had done.

Shigure observed it all. He wanted the world to become a better place. That's why he'd joined Akatsuki. And watching Obito and Mari interact, he was strongly reminded of Yahiko and Konan. Did that make him Nagato then? Maybe. Anyways, he'd do his best to protect them both.

And Nanami smiled. The three were healing. With time they would become a strong team even without her help if they so desired. But for now she'd stick by them and offer guidance.

Three months later she received a message about her brother's demise.

* * *

 **Year 6 ANT:** Tsuchi no Kuni

It had been supposed to be a simple escort mission. Around C Rank but not quite B, right at their mission slot. A merchant travelling from Suna to Iwa. People from Tani were hired because of their famed neutrality. But they didn't know that the merchant was a spy who'd taken the longer route from Kaminari no Kuni to Tsuchi no Kuni. So there was a lot of enemy-nin to try and kill the merchant and/or get the info-scrolls hidden in the carriage full of merchandise. And Nanami had been unable to take part of the mission because of she had her duties to attend now _and_ was found on Iwa's Bingo Book under the epithet Deathly Silence. (She didn't like the epithet at all. And didn't care how fitting it was.)

They got through Kaze no Kuni relatively safely. But at Ishi no Kuni… Well, simply said, there was an ambush.

"Shigure, on your five!" Fukurou yelled whilst tackling down their client and pushing him against the carriage. When the horses drawing the carriages tried to flee, Mari did the sensible thing and cut them free. They'd only be a hindrance in this fight. Especially if someone put them under a genjutsu.

Shigure ducked and twisted his body so it was almost horizontal. From the depths of his sleeves the senbon flew with deadly accuracy. And the next moment he was gone, high up in the air and aiming more projectiles at the enemy.

Meanwhile Fukurou had engaged two Kumo-nin in taijutsu, accurately predicting and countering their moves. He read their chakra signatures with his left eye and with his right one followed the path they were about to attack. A long time ago he'd learnt to keep a mild henge around his eyes (just like one Fong Mai) when using Sharingan. Mismatched eyes, especially with one of his bloodline, were bound to attract attention. So usually people could only see two light blue eyes and then have a testament of his skill by being beaten down.

Mari stuck close to their client. And when it became clear that some of the enemies were trying to get _into_ the carriage…

" **Raiton: Kyuu-den!"  
(Lightning Release: Ball Lightning)**

The shinobi and everything else inside the carriage was electrocuted and burnt to crisp, including the information scroll. But hey, it wasn't like she could've known what was inside. For all she knew, the Kumo-nin were trying to sneak attack through one of the windows.

The fight ended quickly. One or two Kumo-nin managed to escape. The rest were scattered on the road and the rocks around. There was blood splatters like rain droplets on the ground after Shigure's attacks. There was scorch marks from Mari's jutsus. And there was several broken necks, limbs and punctures made by kunai from where Fukurou had struck.

"Let's go." Shigure stated, collecting his usable senbon needles with a swipe of his hand and some well-directed chakra strings.

* * *

They made it to Bingo Books. Both of Kumo and Iwa. Kumo because of obvious statement of their strength. Iwa because they were miffed by the fact they didn't receive the info the merchant-spy had, and they also were impressed by the strength the trio had demonstrated.

When they got back home and found out about the bingo books… They went to celebrate with a big group. Bloody ninjas…

It was during that dinner that little Nohara Rui announced that she wanted to go Konoha and graduate from their Academy _'like cousin Rin did'_. And become a medic-nin. _'Like cousin Rin did'_. Mari almost strangled Fukurou for corrupting her little sister with stories of brave Konoha-nin.

" _I don't care she was your crush and my distant cousin! Rui-chan is not going to Konoha!"_

Unfortunately with Konoha's more advanced medical system (blame Senjuu Tsunade for that) and the career focused way the Nohara clan just was… (With the exception of the three girls Mari, Rin and Rui) the little girl was granted a permission. Of course it needed to be cleared with Kawabara, Nanami-sama and Hokage but Rui's family was definitely on board and practically already pushing the six year old girl on the road before the papers were even signed. But naturally none of the family members would escort her. Oh no, they were too busy at the hospital or researching.

Mari ended up taking her little sister to the village of leaves – much to her displeasure – and enrolled her to the class the future Rookie 9 would graduate from. Thankfully Rui was independent girl and the long absences of her sister(on missions) and parents(always absent) had ensured that she knew how to take care of herself. So she lived on her own during the school months and returned to Tani during breaks.

* * *

 **Year 7 ANT:** Tani Hospital, Water Section of Tani

"It doesn't look good… Whatever you were hit with is trying to reverse the healing technique Hatsuki-san used to implant her eye on you." Mari mused while inspecting Fukurou's left eye and the area around it.

"Is it salvageable?" Fukurou didn't frown since he was told not to move his facial muscles but he wasn't too far from it.

"The eye itself? Yes. Hatsuki-san did miraculous work. But the connection is trying to cut off now and if that happens, that eye will be useless for you." Hatsuki. Or Karasu, as she used to be known as outside and also inside the clan. But after her death, her real name was made public knowledge. After all she was in no danger anymore and any information she might have had was already inspected and filed in the Torino Archives.

"Can you do anything?"

"Hmm…" The teen withdrew and gave a considering look at her team mate. "There is no precedent of a case like this… In a sense I could remove the eye, fix the surroundings and implant it again… But I'm no Torino Hatsuki and I do not have the necessary knowledge to perform the procedure. And I already know that you don't trust anyone else to do it either."

"But then that means we need more information." Shigure spoke up from his place against the wall where he was flicking through some medical tome.

"Yes. But generally we here at the hospital don't transfer eyes. People are not willing to give up their own so once the eye is lost, it's lost and the shinobi needs to consider their options: either to train themselves to function with only one eye because the three-dimensional sight suffers from the loss of an eye and thus impairs their functionality on the field… Or then they give up their field career and become instructors or desk-nin. And even in that case they need to get used to the situation. Fukurou is about the only one with an eye transplant here-…"

"But not the only one in all of the Elemental Nations." Fukurou spoke up quietly. He was tying his hitai-ate back to cover his forehead, while Mari and Shigure both looked at him in surprise. "Mari… how well can you extract information from corpses?"

"Quite well. It's not my specialty but if it's Raiton techniques or medical information, I can absorb it. Why?"

It took one shared glance between the trio for the message to be conveyed.

"Rin? But _why_?"

Fukurou sighed. "She did transplant my Sharingan on Kakashi. And it's still fully functional despite the chakra drain it causes to him."

"Yes… Rui has told me in her letters how this Copy-nin regularly ends up in hospital for chakra exhaustion but escapes as soon as he is physically capable. Or then he doesn't show up at all and the iryo-nin have to hunt him down."

"Should I be worried about the security level of Konoha if an Academy student can get this information about one of their heavy-hitters and send it to us?" Shigure frowned.

"Most likely." Fukurou muttered. "But listen, the point is that Rin-chan succeeded in the operation. In the field no less and in a stressful situation. So there should be information on her even after all these years. If not, maybe there is a record at the hospital for the first check-up on the Sharingan. And… I don't like suggesting this but…"

"Right now we don't really have other choice. Let's go to speak with Nanami-sensei. She might have some insight into this." Mari gathered her tools from the table and put them in her kit.

* * *

Soon after a plan was made. And it would really be hitting two birds with one stone. Fukurou would act as a sort of a distraction while checking up on Minami and Akio who were on their mission (and studiously avoiding Rui so any connection wouldn't be made), while Shigure and Mari would enter as civilians and handle their part at graveyard.

Rui was a great source of information. She'd managed to find out that Rin's body had never been cremated and since she was family, she also knew where the late iryo-nin's grave was. Moreover, no one suspected her. She had already gone through the mandatory security screening and there had been nothing in her mind that had indicated she'd be a spy. (Considering how close the end of previous war was and also the Hyuuga Incident it was no wonder that the normal Shinobi paranoia was higher than usually.) So a childish drawing of a graveyard map was sent to the trio from the seven-year-old girl accompanied by wishes for the success of the mission. It was downright adorable how she wrote for them to _'hurry up and heal Fukurou-niichan'_. Or would've been if it hadn't been an order. The little girl was a terrifying force of nature sometimes. Even from distance.

So, the trio disembarked. It took less than a week to travel from Tani to near areas of Konoha. There Shigure and Mari put on civilian disguises and prepared their papers. The identifications were actually legitimate… for their fake personalities.

"I don't like this." Mari muttered when Shigure used and quick jutsu to make it rain a bit before they reached the main gates.

"I know."

"She's my cousin."

"I know."

"My cousin that I never met."

"…I have no cousins. None that I know of at least."

"What about that boy? Miika-kun? He has the same hair and eyes than you. And I heard he uses suiton, too."

"Maybe… But he was born in Tani. I was born in Ame. It is not the same. Even if he is a Kisaragi with his mother… it's not the same."

"I know. It's the same situation with me and Rin… We were around the same age but… we most likely had different values. Different upbringing despite being part of the same clan."

The rain drenched the two when they came to the gates. Civilians weren't inspected that carefully and the guards seemed to be irritated by the rain.

"It's alright Ri-Ri." Shigure wrapped an arm around the young woman's shoulders and held her closer. "It's alright…"

* * *

The soil at the graveyard was cold. Mari could feel it under her knees and palms as she channeled chakra to her distance diagnosis technique – Tani-Nohara exclusive. Shigure was crouched nearby and keeping a watch. The rain acted as a good deterrent for civilians and a sensor technique for the man. Yahiko had been a great help with water release techniques back in the day…

Mari breathed slowly in and out. Her eyes were closed but Shigure could see faint movement under her closed lids, like she was reading a medical report. Eventually the brunette ceased her jutsu and removed her hands from the soil.

"Done. I have everything Rin knew about transplanting and after effects and… Sharingan in general. More than we have at our clan info-files at least." There was a steely glint in her dark eyes. "I can fix Fukurou with this. And I won't give up any of this information to anyone else."

'Any' was subjective. Shigure wagered that mostly it would be about Sharingan that Mari would keep quiet about. After all no one knew about Fukurou's original heritage aside from… their team, Nanami-sensei, Washi-san, Kawabara-sama, Tsubame-chan… Yeah, that's it. But maybe general info about eye transplants would be submitted to hospital. Maybe.

"Let's be on our way then." Shigure got on his feet and extended his hand to Mari who gracefully accepted the help.

"Yeah, let's."

The rain stopped hours later. The mysterious trio was gone by then.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, there is some mysteries solved. Like how Kakashi survived at Mountain's graveyard if Obito wasn't there with his mokuton and Madara's manipulation. And what an earth was going on when Fukurou visited Konoha... And! I realized something important that I haven't mentioned before. There has been a slight butterfly effect going on in here. Mostly because I was an idiot when I timed the events for Shigure. Hanzo and Danzo wiping out Akatsuki happened _before_ Kannabi bridge. Meaning that Madara already had a lackey back then, not just army of Zetsu. This has also slightly affected the Mizukage situation but not that much. It is probably obvious now, especially when Nanami sent Konoha a request of missing or dead Uchiha Clan members... But I decided to clarify it.**

 **I just realized that I don't really describe my characters... Their clothing or anything... Well, I'm working on pictures of them currently and I'm going to put them on deviant Art when finished. You'll see them then. But I can also start adding more description in here too...**

 **One more tid-bit about Torino Clan names added! Karasu finally got a birth name too!**

 **Shigure and Mari are a couple. And no, Fukurou isn't jealous for them. He _is_ though getting slowly over Rin. He will always love her but he isn't obsessed like in canon. He is capable moving on with the support of his new team.**

 **By the way... what would you think about adding a self-insert character? Some events of the canon are already changing so the strain of the character wouldn't be that great to change, change, _change_ things. Besides I've been immersing myself in SI-OC and timetravel and reincarnation fics as of late. It'd be interesting. Besides I have quite a few self-insert fics in my repertoire already. My options out of my OCs are these: Uchiha Ayame(unlikely), Torino Tsubame(she was originally SI-OC with Itachi's ghost inside her head, thus the outward resemblance) and Nohara Rui(most likely). I had Namikaze Nanami on the list too but her story is pretty much already formed in these chapters and it's more interesting to see how she figures things out on her own.**

 **()**

 **Please review. Honestly. I don't like begging and I'm not going to but... It'd be nice to get some feedback. Next chapter will have chuunin exams for Minami and Akio by the way! Look forward to it.**

 **(PS. what would you think about a Kakashi interlude because... Seriously? He is a cool character. And he knew Nanami. He also knew Kazekoi Kenta(who by the way was in Sakumo's squad). Minami looks seriously like Minato(with less spiky hair). And Fukurou... Agh! And I'm thinking about a scene where Anbu-Kakashi has a run in with Team Nanami sometime after Kyuubi. Oh the angst...)**


	8. Leaves drown in River

**A/N: Ooh, the chuunin exams are here! My babies are growing up!**

 **Oh, and in this chapter you'll get more info about how things are done in Tani. I hope my explanations make sense. But if not, just ask and I can try and clarify things more in the next author note.**

 **And I hope Fukurou/Obito is still in character. Please tell me if he feels... off.**

* * *

 **Chapter eight: And the Leaves drown in the River**

 **Year 9 ANT:** Training ground 7, Earth Section of Tani

They'd finished training for the day when the announcement came.

"Chuunin Exams?" Minami frowned, his team mates echoing his skeptical expression. "You sure, Fukurou-sensei? We've been genin only a year after all. And unlike in the other villages, the missions are assigned per experience, not rank." Sometimes the boy still felt like reminding his teacher about the fact because… well, because Fukurou was born and raised in the Hidden Village of Leaf and the system was still somewhat ingrained in the man. The team had been completing C and an occasional B rank for the better part of the year already. And their record spoke for them. Getting a promotion wasn't something they had been actively been thinking about(even if Aikira's dream was to become stronger and raise in the ranks). They'd been more focused on teamwork and getting to know each other. And eventually Sen and Fukurou both had opened up from their pasts to Minami and Aikira. Pasts that both of the boys decided not to bring up. It was a sensitive topic for the ex-Uchihas.

"I'm sure." Fukurou smiled reassuringly to the three. "I've seen your prowess on the field and think you three can easily get through these exams. If nothing else, you can think of this as a vacation." And man grinned brightly.

"Yeah, a vacation to get away from you and your lame excuses, sensei." Sen snorted.

"Oi, they aren't excuses!"

"Some of them are." Aikira spoke up from behind the high collar of his jacket. The spider-boy then glanced at their teacher and frowned. "There is a catch, isn't there? In participating to these exams…"

Fukurou sobered up quickly and let out a sigh. "A perceptive as always Aikira-kun." The man scratched the back of his head with a far-away look in his eyes. He was gathering his thoughts. "We are going to break our team."

"What?!" It was Sen. She had jumped on her feet, her dark onyx eyes furiously glaring at their teacher. Minami in the other had slipped off his seat and was flummoxed on his new place on the ground. Aikira's shoulders had tensed but showed no other sign of surprise outwardly.

"Temporarily, Sen-chan, temporarily." Fukurou placated the fuming girl. "Please, sit down."

"What do you mean by breaking our team for the exam? Temporarily or not, we need to attend as teams of three. Even Kumogakure does so despite them preferring pairs. Or Kirigakure who have probably never even heard of teamwork. Or Iwagakure that has squads of four or five…" Minami asked while climbing back on his feet.

"We are going to break this team… and Mari's team and mix up the members. The reason is simple. The next exams are going to be in Konohagakure…"

The realization dawned on Sen's face.

"And I can't go there. At least not this close to the demise of our clan."

"Exactly. I won't be going there either for the same reason. Until the finals at least. Not to mention my presence in the village when Shigure and Mari… ahem, investigated a bit." Fukurou grimaced in discomfort when he something akin to shame flickered across his face. "The exam after this one will be in Sunagakure then."

"What was wrong with the previous exam then?" Aikira asked, carefully picking apart any arguments, the man could have.

"They were in Kirigakure. Speaking of which… Haru-chan will be a member in the team going to Konoha."

"Yuki Haru? Shigure-san's apprentice?" Minami frowned. It wasn't that he didn't get along with the girl but… He practically knew nothing about her.

"Yes. She could've participated last year but… Her bloodline _is_ from Kirigakure so…"

"It would have been suicide for her to go." Aikira concluded.

"Right on spot."

"So… Who will this team going to Konoha consist of?" Minami began, trying to sound nonchalant. But internally he was shaking in his sandals. Two spots were already claimed. One by Haru, other by someone from Mari-sensei's team. It meant only one from their own team would be leaving to Konoha.

"It will be Yuki Haru, Shiranui Akio and… Kazekoi Minami." Oh, that bastard. He purposefully let him panic. Not intending to give the man any pleasure of the situation, Minami just nodded solemnly. A quick shared look with Aikira and the spider-boy got the message.

"And the team to Sunagakure?"

"That'll be you two and Ishihara Shiro. Namida Yumi will be working further with her medical studies and most likely gain her possible rank through hospital work and private skill assessment."

In silence the trio exchanged quick glances before Minami shrugged. "Sounds like a plan sensei." The blonde grinned.

Truthfully, he couldn't wait.

* * *

 **Year 9 ANT:** Konoha

One and half a year. That much Minami counted that had passed since he last had been here. And this time he didn't need to hide. Not like last time. He and Akio both were fourteen now (And Haru was twelve).

Next to him, Akio and Haru seemed to have similar thoughts. Akio looked wistfully at his former home while Haru seemed exited over the fact that she could visit another Hidden Village. Especially one that didn't want her head on platter simply because of her bloodline.

"You guys ready?" Minami looked over his shoulder. They were already drawing some looks, if not for their outward appearance, then for their Tani-headbands that they all wore on their forehead. Minami couldn't wait to get it changed into Kawa-symbol. There was one aspect in receiving the new headband that other villages didn't know. They thought it was just show that a person wasn't a genin anymore or of the old system. While those facts weren't untrue, they held a hidden meaning. If you were to defect from Tani and you wore Kawa-symbol, you'd be labelled as missing nin. Receiving second headband with the symbol of entire country meant that you were trusted, that you would be relied on upon attack. If you had just Tani-symbol you were free to come and go. _You were worth less to the enemy._ This was also why outsiders were free to leave as long as they hadn't decided to join on the ranks. Because if they joined, they technically started out as genin again no matter what their original rank had been. Oh, one could rank up and still not receive Kawa-symbol, but that was few and far in between.

This also made people wonder why Hikari Saki had immediately received the symbol of trust of the village and the entire country when arriving. But then… Shigure kept an eye on Four Deaths and would move to kill her if it turned out that she was a traitor.

But back to the present now…

"Yeah… I bet I'll get some weird looks as soon as they hear my family name." Akio sighed. Haru smiled sympathetically at him. Minami in the other hand snorted and turned around to walk backwards whilst facing his new teammates.

"What about me then?" He tugged at the long side-locks framing his face. "I look just like Minato-jisan." And it was only thanks to Kazekoi Kenta's softer hair quality that prevented Minami's hair from sticking up in spikes like it was the case with Yondaime and Naruto(and several other people who weren't blonde).

"You were born in Tani. I was _technically kidnapped_." Akio glared half-heartedly. Haru giggled at the exchange. She had the pale skin and blueish black hair of her clan but she didn't stick out much aside from her clothes. She had a long blue haori atop of a steel grey jumper, with leg warmers of the same color, white leggings and some… flip-flops. Not to mention the geisha-like socks she also had.

Minami noted that the other teams from the villages seemed to have some sort of unofficial dress code. In colors like Iwagakure(wine red and grey) and Sunagakure(light grey and sandy brown), accessory like Amegakure and Kirigakure(rebreathers and overalls), or then weaponry… Compared to others, their team(and some of Konoha's) probably looked basically unprofessional. Minami and Akio both had simple jackets and somewhat _casual_ ninja-look. What did set them apart from other people in the area and also from the other Tani team that came with them, was scrolls (And the fact that Akio didn't wear open-toed sandals like about the rest of the continent in one form or another.). Both boys had been practicing sealing since they were in the Academy and preferred scrolls to bags. They did have backpacks too(for scrolls) but only for stuff that needed to be accessed quickly but not immediately. Like a water canteen and the admission papers and passport.

"Hai, hai…" The blonde scoffed playfully before turning around once again as they headed to the Ninja Academy of Konohagakure no Sato. According to Fukurou Konoha pretty much went on the same formula every year: information gathering and written part first(with stressful situation and having to rely on teammates no matter what), survival exercise in the Forest of Death next(which will eliminate at least half of the teams), and finally was the tournament a month later. And it was only around ten people who made it to the tournament. If there was a whole lot more participants left, there'd be preliminaries. Though those were few and far in between.

"Right… Just… Let's just go." Akio sighed and tugged the knot of his bandana-like headband tighter. He wore it the right way around, unlike his brother. Right… how many years had it been since he'd seen the joonin? Nine? Something like that. It was weird. Akio sort of missed the man. Even if he only had vague recollections of him. Genma was so much older than him so he'd been either helping with the war effort with their father or training. Having to be chosen to Yondaime's Hokage Guard Detail had been a big step for him and allowed him to learn the Flying Thunder God technique with Namiashi Raidoo and Tatami Iwashi. Akio had been lately helping Minami to learn it too…

But then the Nine-Tailed Fox had struck. Yondaime was dead. Akio and Genma's parents were dead. Akio had been heading home from training when it all had happened. Then one of the chuunin had grabbed him and taken him to behind a barrier where other young shinobi were. Akio was about the only child not yet in Academy who was there. He didn't know any of the faces. Genma wasn't there either. He was alone and scared and the malicious chakra was pressing down on him. And even when the Fox was gone and sealed, the boy remained curled up near one of the trees. The teens and children left one by one when the barrier was taken down. Eventually Genma also came to get Akio. But they both had changed during the last hours. There was a rift between them and neither was sure what had caused it.

So Akio got out of the village. His scroll full of kunai and senbon was all he had left. But now he had a friend. And a new family. He didn't know what happened to Genma afterwards. He'd be… twenty-six now?

"Oi, Aki… Wake up, we're here!" Minami's voice snapped the brunet from his pensive thoughts. Akio forced a smile on his face and walked after his best friend and new team mate through the Academy gates.

* * *

Minami had the papers of the three of them as they approached one of the desks to sign in. A chuunin was manning the desk and almost buried under the paper work already. It was only midmorning though, two hours until the start of the first phase of the exam. And the second phase would start the day after(most likely). But thankfully there wasn't much people around.

"Kazekoi Minami, Shiranui Akio and Yuki Haru from Tanigakure no Sato." The blonde stated and gave the three sheets of paper to the man in front of him. The man was wearing dark glasses and his black hair was sticking up funnily behind his forehead protector. He looked somewhat familiar…

"Minami-kun?" The chuunin blinked and smiled up at the boy. "It's been a while."

"It has…?"

"I was your mother's student. Yamashiro Aoba. You've grown." The man smiled. Now that Minami had the name, he could make a connection.

"Ah, yes… We met after Yondaime Hokage's memorial. You and Toshiro-san were on gate guard duty. Aura-san was there too…"

"Yes, long time no see to you too, Akio-kun." Aoba smiled to the nervous brunet. "I guess these are your first chuunin exams."

"That's right." Akio nodded slowly. "Say… About my brother… How is he?"

"Genma? He is doing alright. Thinking about leaving Anbu though. I haven't seen of him much. You look a lot like him though."

"Thanks…"

"Right… The exam starts one o'clock. The gathering will be here. Don't be late." Aoba stamped the papers and the shooed the trio out so the next team could sign in. On the way out Akio fell in step with Minami, him walking just a bit behind and to the right of the blond. Haru instinctively did the same on the left side. The formation was the same than when they'd been walking to the Academy. And when travelling to Konoha. The two of them were like bodyguards to the boy. If Minami noticed it, he didn't comment.

" _Some things come naturally. Maybe… Maybe it's the history speaking."_ The brunet thought, lifting his goggles that he got from Fukurou almost two years ago on his forehead. He glanced at Haru who smiled back at him. _"But Minami is like that. Inspires people to follow. Just like his uncle and mother. And I'm sure his cousin will be just like that too…"_

* * *

Around two hours later they were back in the assembly hall. It was crowded with genin-teams from countries all around the continent. And there was not exclusively only Konoha's allies and neutral countries. Apparently some sort of peace was being attempted there.

Haru hummed while contemplating the situation. She counted at least two teams from Kiri(they weren't much of a team players after all), three from Iwa(two squads split and mixed), two from Kumo(like Iwa but in opposite), and one or two teams from minor villages. Suna had sent over ten teams and Konoha had well over thirty teams in the game but in the mix it was harder to get an accurate count. And Haru couldn't use chakra rain or hiding in mist technique inside a building to sense better. What a pity.

With a smile, the Ice user turned to smile at her team mates. She liked them, especially Akio. Minami had this sense of distance in him, makings of future leader, while Akio was equal.

"This is going to be interesting." She spoke in joy. Minami blinked at her but grinned back.

"You bet!"

Akio chuckled behind them and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "They certainly have variety."

"Alright, brats!" Right… The proctors had arrived. And someone was having a bad day. Or generally just had a short temper. Or seriously needed to get laid.

Akio, enough with that.

Meanwhile Minami eyed his friend and grinned. He could easily see the expiration on the brunet's face and the direction his thoughts were going to… until Akio shook his head to clear his thoughts. It had been happening lately quite often. Akio was becoming distracted by being in Konoha. Hmm… Maybe Minami should mention this to Mari-sensei after the first part of the exam was over.

"Each of your teams will come here and pick the number of your seats. You will be separated from your team mates for the duration of this test. More instructions once this chaos is over and done with!" The head proctor(?) barked. Minami had completely missed his name during introduction. Or had there even been an introduction? Nevertheless, the blond turned to face Haru and Akio and spoke with a low voice.

"Konoha values teamwork above all the other villages… Statistically it doesn't make sense for them to separate us. So this test is either about trust or information relaying techniques in distance."

"That's right." Akio nodded. "I think the head proctor of this part is a Yamanaka. Konoha has automatically an edge. If they have enough experience with their clan techniques, simple mind-transfer won't work between team members. On gaining information yes but…"

"So does the other team from our village." Haru pointed out. "They have a Hanada who has mastered the Hiden: Shuugou Seishin. And they won't be willing to help us. I already checked on our way here."

"They aren't Tori-Hana-Ao team and none of us belongs to either of the of the other two clans. Hanada's are nifty like that." Akio muttered, absently chewing the inside of his cheek before noticing the action and stopping it. No way he'd start a substitute action for chewing a senbon. It was bad enough that Genma had the habit(and most likely he hadn't stopped it) he'd picked from their father.

"Technically I could try and ask…" Minami trailed off. "Nah, we can do just fine on our own. We are all smart."

"Yes… A nerd, a rational one and a sensible one."

"Hey!"

"I'm guessing that I'm the sensible one."

"Right you are, Haru-chan!"

"Oi, seriously knock it off."

"You are just too easy to tease, Mina."

"Why do I even put up with you?"

They fell into comfortable banter whilst the other genin trickled to the desk and got their assigned seats. They were in no hurry. After all they were going to be separated anyways. It didn't matter who were sitting next to them.

* * *

The head proctor Yamanaka was in the front of the room. Of each room. Most likely all three were shadow clones. The Yamanaka worked for Intelligence division. The rules laid down were simple and would be in a form or another be repeated in the next chuunin exams in Konoha. The base line was: cheat all you want as long as you don't get caught. And trust your team mates even if you can't see them.

Minami leaned over his paper and twirled idly the pen in his fingers. He supposed that someone would be observing also the ticks of the participants. To see how they'd handle pressure alone. Who would glance around and wish for a familiar face. Who would concentrate on the questions and ignore everything around. Who would do what was expected of them calmly and efficiently and trust their team mates to do their part. Apparently the points from the test were to be looked over. But Minami knew the points didn't matter in the end. This was a mental battle. Behavior was the one thing that was to be watched on the duration of the exams. The tournament alone didn't decide whether or not one got promoted.

Akio stretched his arms towards the ceiling and with a slight twitch of a finger, flicked a needle up there. It had a chakra string attached to it. Some more needles and there was a web in the ceiling, intricately woven. He might've talked with Sen and Aikira before leaving Tani. Sen about the uses of regular needles and smaller than normal senbon, and Aikira about the mechanics of spider webs. It all would become handy in this exam.

Haru smiled cheerily in a way that seemed to unnerve the people near her. She didn't mind. Currently she only cared about the humidity of the room. It was just enough for her to use her clan techniques. Enough water in the air to form her un-melting ice. While she was confident about her knowledge, this was still information according to Konoha standard, not Tani standard. Besides this test _was_ for information gathering.

Minami didn't need to cheat. He got this information down. He was a genius. His mother said so. She also told him that his uncle had been a genius too. Minami had been happy to hear about his uncle. He always was, especially when his mother would compare them and tell how alike they were. Of course there was differences too. Minami also took after his father. And the boy was determined to make both of them proud of him.

The chakra strings attached themselves to the pen and arm of Akio's chosen target. It was a chuunin plant who'd definitely have the right answers. The boy smirked slightly as another set of strings took a hold of his own arm. Reverse puppeteering. The movements of his target were transferred on his own arm. Only thing Akio needed to worry about was putting enough pressure so the text would actually appear.

Haru closed her eyes and concentrated on her mirrors. In this situation she could not move through them like one of the clan techniques taught but she had her own application for them. She moved her left hand slightly underneath the desk and formed one-handed seals. "Hyoton: Hyome Kagami." She whispered. From her nigh invisible sheets of ice hovering in the air she gazed at the answers that others had written and began comparing them and forming her own.

* * *

Their team got through. But it had been unnerving. One could never know when the head proctor's clone would bark out your number, informing that one of your team mates had screwed up.

"Tomorrow you will go to training ground 44. The next part of the exam will be held there. Dismissed." And the Yamanaka(clone) swept out of the room.

"You know…" Akio began to the Ame-nin sitting next to him. "I don't think I ever caught his name."

The Ame-nin simply glanced at him before shrugging. Oh well… Akio didn't let the reaction to bother him because the guy was from other village in the end.

* * *

 **A/N: Do you know how hard it's to try and reinvent chuunin exams? I tell you, very. I've read some fics(time-travel and SI-OC) with chuunin exams in them that are not the canon one but... Making up my own is way too hard. Especially when I don't want to steal ideas from other fics... So here was the first portion. The next part will be about Forest of Death. And finals are in the chapter after that.**

 **Replies to Review(s):**

 **-Guest:  
It's alright. Thank you for reviewing anyways. And yeah, there is a counter. And while there is a lot of people who've read my fic I don't go checking the counter daily. Reviews, story alerts and such in the other hand are something tangible to grasp and unfortunately my mindset is pretty much geared on how many replies I get.**

 **()**

 **BTW, do any of you know fics where the jounin and chuunin gossip and talk about the genin(Konoha 12 specifically) and other random things going on in the village? I mean... in _Dreaming of Sunshine_ there was this bar scene with Tokubetsu Jounin and bingo books and stuff... Mostly I'm thinking fics along the line of Harry Potter fic _Professors' Point of View_...**

 **Alright, then I guess I'm off now. Please review. And the questions I've laid down at the end of other chapters still apply. About SI-character, pairings etc.**

 **Bye! o/**


	9. Leaves burn in Forest

**A/N: Ah, hey guys... My computer crashed with all my files so I couldn't update. Thankfully it's alright now. Here is the second part of the chuunin exams Minami, Akio and Haru are participating in. I feel like there is a bunch of stuff I should edit but in the other hand my computer feels like a ticking timebomb so I just want to submit this quickly for you guys to read.**

* * *

 **Chapter nine: And the Leaves burn in the Forest**

 **Year 9 ANT:** Konoha, right next to training ground 44(The Forest of Death)

There was… surprisingly many teams left. And the new proctor (an Inuzuka if the dog next to him was anything to go by) seemed determined to dwindle down the numbers into a quarter at least. Why? Because each of the teams was given a colored tag. It was circular with a hole in the middle. The colors for the tags were blue, yellow, red, black and white. They also had a kanji representing an element in them. Water, lightning, fire, earth and wind respectively.

"The rules are simple: get all five different colored tags and make your way to the tower in the center of the forest. If you miss even one tag, you won't pass. If one of your team mates is incapacitated and or dead, you won't pass. You have one solid week. If you are not at the tower by then with all five tags and all of your team mates, you are disqualified."

Minami cocked an eye brow. Five tags… the amount of teams there wasn't dividable by five. Maybe six or seven teams would make it through if all the tags were to be used. Not to mention that it seemed they'd have no idea which team would get which tag. This was going to be fun.

Next to him Akio and Haru were sharing his sentiments.

* * *

They had their tag. It had the kanji for wind in it. Appropriate since the three of them could use the element. Haru as her second primary, Minami as his secondary and Akio as his primary. The tag was sealed inside a storage seal beneath Minami's sleeves.

They were escorted to gate 34 by one of the chuunin around. The woman was dressed in regular Konoha blues and a green chuunin vest. Minami remembered a photo of his mother wearing the similar attire when she was younger. Then she moved to Tani, had him and became Tani-nin. Meaning that the color-scheme changed to some shades darker blue and a chuunin vest that zen labelled as light tea color. It was very light bluish green in the other words.

Minutes ticked by. The chuunin kept an eye on the clock she had. She had dark hair and eyes. Underwhelming presence, blended easily to crowd. Probably a type of infiltrator or part of a support unit.

 _Click_. The lock on the gate was open. A minute until it was time to rush into the fray. Minami's leg muscles tensed. Akio removed his hands from his pockets. Haru adjusted her hip pouches.

Tick, **tick** , _tick_ , _**tick…**_

And they were off.

"We are going to need some rain for tomorrow, Haru." Minami spoke when they hopped through the foliage, heading to the river that ran through the area. "Akio, can you provide genjutsu on us?"

"Sure." The shurikenjutsu practitioner ran through a set of seals and the trio faded out of sight. It was handy technique as it was linked on their own chakra signatures, so it would move with them and anyone who it wasn't linked to, wouldn't see them. Naturally they could see each other though.

Behind them Haru was going through the seals in order to prepare the Rain Tiger at Will Technique. She couldn't do it instantly because currently Konoha had a clear, cloudless sky. So first she needed to make clouds. And that would take time.

"Are we going to send clones after teams?" Akio spoke then.

"…Yes. That sounds like a good tactic. And your genjutsu will automatically conceal them too." Minami nodded, slipping into the role of a leader. "We'll have them scout the locations of the other teams and preferably we'll strike at least one of them today. With almost four to five odds in getting a tag we're missing, it's best to act quickly."

" **Fuuton: Kazebunshin no jutsu!"  
(Wind Release: Wind Clone technique)**

It was interesting. To make clones right out of elemental release. But in a way it made sense. Clones were chakra constructs after all, solid or not.

Three hours later they had an earth-tag liberated from a group of Sand-nin. It was sealed to similar storage seal that Minami had, but on Haru's stomach. Yeah, it wouldn't be found too soon from there.

* * *

Night fell way too soon in Akio's opinion. Thankfully they'd discovered a safe place to sleep and rigged the surroundings with various traps. The boys' prankster background had come to good use with them and Haru had merely shook her head in amusement when the two described the effects of some of the traps. Which were more humiliating than dangerous.

"Tar trap? Really, Mina? _Really_?" Akio stared at his friend. "You seriously packed that with you?"

"Of course! I took my prank scroll with me." The blonde grinned. "And you can't really talk, you just laid down a syrup trap."

"That's a Ninpou jutsu!"

"Alright guys! Let's get some rest. I'll take the first watch." Haru told the duo, pushing them towards the sleeping area. "Minami takes the second one and Akio the last one, okay?"

"Hai!" The boys chorused in complete dead-pan.

* * *

Next day dawned way too late in Akio's opinion. Well, he had had the last watch. And nothing of note had happened during the night. No one had tried to sneak on them. No had been caught in their traps. Hopefully this day would be more eventful.

"My clone has found a Konoha-nin team. They seem to have fire-tag." Minami spoke between munches he took from his ration bar.

"Do you think he can take them on or does he need back-up?" Haru asked, packing away her blanket.

"…Back-up would be nice. They look like rookies but at least one of them is a clan kid. Konoha doesn't favour teams without clan-children." The blonde frowned. It was one of the things he didn't like about the village of leaves: they had so many big clans (and minor ones) that if a fully civilian team had been formed, it was likely that they wouldn't pass. Oh, it might be that a team with one clan kid and two civilians would be sent back to academy but next year the clan kid would definitely pass in a new team with another clan kid or two. When Minami had been in Konoha watching after Naruto two years ago, he'd gotten quite a good look on the system there. While the standards of the Academy had decreased because of civilian council and peace time, thus giving an illusion of equal chances, in the end the teams that failed the genin test the jounin sensei gave them, the civilians were the ones weeded out. Favorism at its finest. The only thing Konoha did right nowadays in the school system was the amount of years they taught and when they led children graduate. Not even the prodigies were let to take the exam until they were ten or eleven.

"I'll direct my clone there then." Akio replied. "Haru, what do you think about the weather? Rain tonight?"

The girl looked up through the thick foliage at the sky and the heavy clouds that encased the forest and majority of the nearby training fields. With the build-up of the night and the moist air of Konoha, the rain could last at least two days.

"I'd say it'll rain in an hour." She smiled blandly. "Let's get one or two tags prior that."

* * *

The clones had gathered to take down the Konoha team. Even though Akio's genjutsu had shielded them from sight and sensing, only Minami's made it back with the fire-tag. This one was sealed onto the Akio's leg and now the trio was aiming for another Konoha team(considering that the majority of the teams were from the leaves, they were the ones most likely to find). They'd been kept moving so other teams hadn't managed to ambush them.

"Three out of five." Minami spoke. "We've got a good luck with the teams this far because we've been so quick but today will be the second hardest day. Most of the teams are on the move, most likely have rested so they are the strongest now…"

"Only second hardest day?" Haru spoke up, right when the sound of water drops against foliage began all around them. The girl went through hand seals(Bird-Rat-Ox-Monkey-Rat-Snake) and it began raining at earnest. "What will be the hardest one then?"

"The last one of course. Majority of the teams that will pass, have passed by then and it'll be hit and miss with acquiring the tags. Not to mention that some teams might've trapped the surrounding area of the tower in order to catch teams unaware." Akio grinned. Apparently when they weren't in the main village anymore, the brunette was gaining back his cheerful personality.

"Yes… You definitely know your traps." Minami spoke slowly, with complete deadpan.

"You are just jealous that I can set them up quicker than you!"

"But I know better places to set them!"

"Guys…" Haru tried to get their attention.

"I have more creative and better hidden traps!"

"I'm quicker than you to avoid them!"

"Guys…?" The girl tried again.

"But I-!"

"Guys!" Having fed up with the pointless arguing, the girl yelled at the two boys, effectively getting their attention and shutting them up. The blonde and brunette turned to look at her. "There is Iwa-nin team fifty meters in two o'clock. They seem relatively strong and talk about needing only two tags. And they've taken out the other team from our village."

Minami seemed to consider this, weighting the situation and then finally coming to a decision. "Alright. "We'll go to them. Getting three tags, whether they are what we need or not, will weed out the competition more. Lead the way, Haru!"

* * *

It was surprisingly a fire release technique that was aimed first at them despite the rain. Akio and Haru jumped to left and right respectively while Minami dropped down from the branches. He preferred flat terrain unlike the other two. As soon as the blonde's feet touched the ground, an earth wall was already aimed towards him. The boy jumped and rolled aside before drawing kunai. While the genjutsu was still on him, it seemed that at least one of the Iwa-nin could sense him some other way. Smell? Vibrations of earth? Minami didn't know. Instead he threw the kunai at the trio, effectively scattering them. Now they'd could have a shot in picking them one by one.

Minami eyed his opponent before giving Akio signal to drop the genjutsu. This fight would be a tough one and the brunette didn't need anything hindering and depleting his reserves even if he favoured traps and weaponry.

"Alright then." The blonde smiled at his opponent, the fire user. While Fire wasn't ideal affinity against Minami's lightning and wind, at least the rain would hinder the Iwa genin a bit. Because of Kawa no Kuni's location between Kaze and Hi and Ame, and the numerous river running through, rain was quite regular occurrence there and all Tani-nin knew how to use it to their advantage. "Shall we?"

For some reason his nonchalant question seemed to enrage the other shinobi who sent a massive earth release technique at him. So, fire and earth? Sounds reasonable. These guys seemed to be long line genin. Even their age(early twenties) spoke of it. Minami couldn't help but wonder though why they hadn't received a field promotion. Well, maybe they just weren't suitable to lead teams or didn't have enough strategic thinking because they definitely had the firepower.

"Maybe… I could try to use _that_ … Or not." Minami mused as he dodged yet another attack. He knew he was the fastest genin in these exams. He was certain of it. And his aim was to become the fastest shinobi of the entirety of Elemental Countries.

"Fight back you coward!" The Iwa genin shouted at the blonde.

"Alright, alright." The Tani shinobi sighed and ran through a set of hand seals.

" **Raiton: Bakurai."  
(Lightning Release: Depth Charge)** And he rushed at the other ninja.

" **Katon: Benijikumo!"  
(Fire Release: Crimson Earth Spider)**

Minami dodged the spider-shaped fireball just barely, slipping underneath it and without slowing down at all, he zig-zagged past the remains of the previous earth techniques and the kunai thrown at him. And with just one touch, the 'enemy' was down. Disappointing really.

"Tch… A prime example of all bark and no bite." The blonde muttered, finding wind tag upon his 'victim's' person. Somewhere above him a yell and decreasing temperature indicated the capture of the other member of the Iwa team and somewhere in his left and crash told him that Akio managed to snag the last one either to one of his traps of then into a genjutsu.

"These three got lucky and took out also a rookie Konoha team." Akio informed, presenting water and earth tags he'd collected from his victim. "This guy was a short range fighter and wasn't prepared for my… unusual approach when dealing with opponents."

"You pranked him." Minami stated dryly. The brunette just shrugged in unapologetic way. Right then a cube of ice slid down a tree trunk, with Haru jumping a top of the head that peeked out of it.

"I caught their sensor. He was helpless once he couldn't touch the ground but thought I was a weak girl. Annoying chauvinist."

"Arrogant lot then." Minami noted, with Akio nodding sagely next to him.

"Which tags do we have now?" Haru decided to cut in. Honestly, she couldn't tell sometimes whether or not those two were serious.

"Two wind, two earth, one fire and one water tag. In the other words we are only missing lightning one."

"We can use the extra ones as decoys then."

"Correct." Minami slipped the two tags in his jacket pockets. Meanwhile Akio put the water tag in the same storage seal than their original wind tag. "Let's move on. With luck, we'll have the remaining one by tomorrow before the rain stops."

* * *

"I found a team with the last tag we need. It seems they've been hiding since they have no others and are heading to set traps by the tower."

"Which village?"

"Konoha."

"Why I'm not surprised?"

"Because their percentage in this exam is greater like we've pointed out multiple times?"

"Right…"

* * *

"Akio… how many markers can you get in the area?" Minami asked from his perch on a thick tree branch. Akio was hanging upside down from the same branch while Haru was sitting next to Minami.

"You are going to try and use _that_?" Akio blinked, but nevertheless unfastened one of his weapon scrolls from his belt.

"Hai."

"What is _'that'_?" Haru asked with a frown.

"It's…" The brunette leaned forward to catch the blonde's eyes past the branch between the soles of their feet.

"It's a version of Hiraishin Aki and I have been working on for the past two years. My mother followed the progress my uncle originally made with the technique so she has been able to supervise us."

"Mina hasn't used it in action before though. And it's not finished yet either. Currently it's more like a cross between Shunshin and Kawarimi. Mina's natural speed makes up a lot but…"

"Work in progress." Minami smirked, turning his eyes back to the trio walking beneath them. "And I think I'd be quite alright with that group. To scare them a bit and keep them on their toes."

Haru scoffed.

"Unless, of course, you want to do this."

"Go ahead, Minami. If I were to attack, they'd already be down." Haru waved a dismissive hand but was secretly smiling. This would be an interesting demonstration.

"On the count of three, Mina." Akio stated, opening the scroll. Minami drew a pair of kunai himself.

"One…" Akio cut the chakra from the bottom of his feet and began to free fall.

"Two…" Minami crouched while his friend flipped upright and spread out the scroll. The Konoha team froze on their tracks.

"Three!" Dozens upon dozens kunai, shuriken and senbon flew out, Akio aiming them at everywhere in the area. Minami leaped forward, leaving only a faint afterimage behind. Haru gaped. Damn, he was quick.

One of the Konoha-nin(girl) screamed when Minami appeared in front of her in a crouch. And in the next moment he was gone. The boys of the team tried to pin the blonde down but by the time a thrown projectile or a weapon reached his spot, Minami was already gone to the next one, leaving a marker behind. His technique was thankfully sealless but he had to change places with a marker, thus making it work like Kawarimi.

"Who the hell is that?!"

"I can't see him!"

"Shinji-kun, help me!"

Okay, maybe Minami was toying with them. He wasn't exactly attacking but… there was something, _something_ about having this technique work that made him ecstatic. Yeah, he was a nerd. Yeah, he had started working with this from almost a scratch since he didn't have access to Nidaime Hokage's original notes and the technique wasn't finished yet but still…

Minami was having the time of his life. He had always enjoyed running, seeing how fast he can go. Especially after hearing stories about his uncle(Whom he still preferred to call 'nii-san'). Whenever Minami wasn't pranking, training, researching or at the Ghost Pond, he was running.

"Y-Yuurei _(Ghost)_!" One of the kids suddenly gasped.

 _What?_

"Kiiroi Senko no Yuurei!"

Excuse… Oh, this was ridiculous. Minami halted to stop at the other end of the opening, opposite the Konoha trio. He gave a measuring look at them. Some years older than him, probably in the Academy during the last years of war. Most likely had heard of Yondaime's nickname and signature technique. And… well, Minami sort of resembled the man. Especially with his hair style. Though the color was different. The yellow wasn't sunny like Minato's or acidic like Naruto's, but softer and warmer which leaned towards brown. It was thanks to Kazekoi Kenta's genes, as well as Minami paler complexion. At least in comparison to those of Namikaze blood.

But this…

"A ghost?" Minami mouthed in bewilderment. From the corner of his eye he could see Akio barely holding up and restraining his laughter. Haru wasn't in any better state really. "Oh for the love of all that's good and dandy…"

A step.

Minami was behind the trio once again. First one was knocked out swiftly. And the second. And the third. None of them could even react.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Aki and come to collect the markers." The blonde groused. He did _not_ appreciate being confused for his dead uncle no matter how flattering it might've been in any other situation.

* * *

All tags gathered, the remaining Tani team headed for the central tower. It was the third day. It wasn't raining anymore. And with keeping the extra tags, they'd ensured that at least one team less of the maximum possible passing numbers would pass.

The five tags had to be placed on an array which summoned one of the Konoha chuunin into the reception room. The man explained about the requirements for chuunin rank and how balance between elements had to be kept in order to succeed: earth represented body, water blood, lighting chakra, fire emotions and wind movement. Yin and Yang were balance between physical and mental stamina. Or something. It sounded like Nattoo Ueno's special clones that were used in tracking exercises.

There was only one team before them. From Konoha. Not surprising really.

Days trickled by until the week was at its end. More teams made it to the tower. In the end there was five teams. Konoha, Tani, Iwa, Mizu and Konoha again. Fifteen genin would have a month to prepare for the finals: a tournament. The numbers and opponents were dealt. Haru had the first match against a Mizu-nin. A bit later Akio was against Konoha-nin and right after that Minami would face an Iwa-genin. It was going to be interesting.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright... Whew. I hope you liked this chapter. It was surprisingly fun but though to write. I mean... There is a line between reasonably strong and slightly overpowered and finding it is hard. And as you can probably guess, Minami will have the full Hiraishin eventually but right now relies on Akio's marked weapons for his kawarimi.**

 **I put up a poll about the SI-OC's if you'd be so kind and check it out.(An SI-O** **C _will_ come but how much she'll affect the plot is still up in the air.)**

 **Pairings are still relatively open. And I'll try to get my updated character designs soon to deviantArt. A link to my dA is on my profile now.**

 **In the next chapter is some tokujo/jounin gossip. People discussing about Aki and Mina and sniffing about... A break before finals and then the fights finally.**

 **Happy April Fools btw! o/**


	10. Leaves see through Fog

**A/N: Ah, hello. Here is the tenth chapter. I decided to cut a bit so the finals are after all in the next one. But here is some jounin lounge goodness. I hope the canon cast is in character.**

 **And! We'll have some more insight into Minami's and Akio's personalities before the shit hits the fan.**

* * *

 **Chapter ten: Finally the Leaves see through the Fog of secrets**

"Hanafuda?" Minami held up the cards at Akio. The brunette's lips twitched.

"Sure. After the excitement of yesterday I need something relaxing now."

"Definitely." The blonde sighed.

But before we go to the card game and the month full of training, let's take a look at the Konoha shinobi and how they assessed the chuunin exams held.

* * *

 **A week ago, jounin lounge**

There was jounin senseis of Konoha and other jounin (and tokubetsu jounin) gathered. Some chuunin had had the bright idea to install cameras to the rooms of the first part of the exam and also the forest of death. How the cameras at the forest would survive an entire week was anyone's guess.

"Interesting to see the batch of this year." Mitarashi Anko grinned borderline sadistically and leaned closer to one of the screens in the lounge.

"Are the rumors true that specifically T&I is going to organize the next ones since it's general Intelligence this year?" Yuuhi Kurenai asked next to her friend.

"Perhaps. You gotta confirm with Ibiki though."

"Who has the tally of participating teams?" One of the jounin in the room asked.

"Aoba I think… For some reason he was taking the applications this morning." Tatami Iwashi mused. "Does anyone know why?"

"…Didn't he leave his post for some poor chuunin around midday?" Hatake Kakashi (Miraculously in time. Or not, he was actually shirking from a meeting while in the lounge.) asked from behind his Icha Icha book. "I heard the chuunin got harassed by an Iwa team."

"Aoba does work for Intelligence." Anko mused and then turned to talk with a pair of Tokubetsu Jounin entering the lounge. "Hey, Genma! Seen Aoba? I wanna set up betting pool for the teams making it to the third round!"

"Nah, haven't seen him the whole week." Senbon clacked against the man's teeth as he spoke. "I did hear he was planning to gather his old genin team for reunion though."

"Dragging Toshiro along then?" Namiashi Raidou frowned as he followed the senbon user to the seats near one of the screens.

"Yeah, why?" Why did Raidou seem so displeased about the notion of his cousin?

"Toshiro has been avoiding me during this week too."

"And Aura then?"

"Haven't seen her either." Anko announced. "But she seemed really interested in one of the teams coming here."

"…" Gekkoo Hayate attempted to speak up. And promptly coughed into his fist. "Do you think Aoba wanted that team's application then? If he left in the middle of his shift?"

"Possible." Iwashi shrugged. "But why would he – or those three anyways – be interested in some genin team from some other village before the exam even starts?"

"Tanigakure…" Kakashi stated. "Didn't their jounin sensei, Namikaze Nanami, move to Tanigakure?"

"Yeah…" A comprehension dawned on the faces gathered around.

"And there is that Academy student from Tanigakure, too, isn't there?" Kurenai asked. "On the same class with majority of clan heirs."

"I think Toshiro does have kept contact with his sensei…" Raidou thought aloud. If there had been any other remarks to be made, those trains of thought were interrupted when the self-proclaimed Green Beast of Konoha and Eternal Rival of Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, barged in.

"YOSH, MY YOUTHFUL COLLEAGUES! I HAVE THE LISTS WITH ME! AS SOON AS I HEARD OF YOUR ANGUISH, I WENT TO GET THEM FROM AOBA-SAN!"

"Finally!" Anko jumped from her seat and snatched the papers from the taijutsu master's strong grip. It was a miracle that they weren't ripped apart. "Who wants Konoha's listing? Aoba has already put down probabilities for passing." She held up one of the papers. It was taken by one of the jounin sensei of the participating teams.

"Iwa and Kumo!"

"Mizu and Suna!"

"Minor villages!" (minus Tani because on some standards they didn't exactly fit into the definition minor)

The papers were dealt. Some more copies of the Konoha one was spread around the lounge.

"What about Tani, Anko?" Raidou asked. He didn't fail to notice that the three jounin previously mentioned in the conversation were still absent.

"That's…" The woman chewed on a dango stick thoughtfully. Where had she pulled one didn't matter. Something about the paper she still had in her hand, was obviously bothering her. "They sent two teams… One of them is a regular one but the other… Apparently they picked one student from three separate teams. They have the senseis listed here." Diversion tactic, now!

"Ooh, are the senseis big names then?" Where had Yuugao come from?

"Sure, just listen. Kisaragi Shigure, Torino Fukurou and Nohara Mari. The Shadow Killers themselves." Anko grinned. "Their students ought to be tough stuff." She pointedly wasn't looking at Genma.

"The Shadow Killers?!" Some of the jounin gasped.

"They have students?"

"Didn't they anger both Iwa and Kumo at the same time?"

There, diversion success! Anko tucked the paper(neatly folded) into the waistband of her skirt. She'd confront Aoba later. And his two teammates. And set up the betting pool. Oh, she couldn't wait.

* * *

 **During the first exam**

"Considering the amount of applicants this year the tasks are tailored to be cut down as many teams a possible, right?" Kurenai asked aloud as she and her fellow chuunin and jounin watched the first part of the exam taking place in three separate rooms.

"Yeah. The second task especially. It'll reduce the remaining group into fifth." Anko grinned. "Man, I wish in three years I'll have the same opportunity."

"It's sort of disappointing how easily some of these are failing." Raidou grumbled. "It's like some villages tried to hide their poor quality in quantity."

"It's like they don't have any faith in their team mates either." Iwashi pointed out. "Once the crowd started to thin, chuunin plants for example, they began making more mistakes because of their nerves and the suspicion that their teammates will screw up. And behaviour like that has no business in chuunin exam."

"Ooh, that kid is using chakra strings. I thought it was predominantly Suna technique." A jounin sensei of one of the teams noted.

"Where?" His colleague leant closer.

"The kid on the third row of room number two."

"Indeed. I'm more interested in the girl in room three though. She seems to be using Hyoton."

"Those two are from Tani, right?" Yuugao mused. "Who's their third teammate?"

"If the silent confidence shared between the other two is anything to go by, I'd say it's the blonde in the backrow of room number one." Hayate answered to his would-be-fiance. When Anko took a look at the trio spoken of, she couldn't help but marvel how none of the jounin(+TokuJo) had mentioned their alikeness to certain people. But then, sometimes even shinobi tended to be willfully blind to certain things.

* * *

 **During the second exam (next day)**

"I don't know what should I think about the tactics of some of these teams." Ibiki grunted with a frown. One of the cameras in the Forest of Death had just recorded how team from Iwa steam rolled a team from Konoha. Neither team had had any proper coordination between the members.

"Despair?" Anko grinned. "Seen Aoba by the way? I wanted to see if he was going to participate on the betting pool."

"No. Not since yesterday when everyone else also did. At the canteen for lunch."

"Ho?"

"He yelled for everyone to hear how 'mini-Nami' had finally arrived. Soon after that Toshiro and Aura followed him out."

"And no one has seen them since." Tobitake Tonbo added as he took a seat next to the snake summoner. "Pity, I had a nice conversation with Aura-chan."

"Mini-Nami, huh?" Anko mused, her thoughts drifting to the name she'd read from the application list what she'd concealed from everyone else then. PIeces of puzzle she'd suspected already were falling into their places and confirming the picture she'd her head.

* * *

 **Last day of the second exam**

There was whispers among Konoha genin. About a not just about any ghost. No, it was about a ghost of the Yellow Flash. The whispers travelled through the genin taking part of the chuunin exams(both Konohan and foreign) and via them to jounin senseis and the rest of the rank. Thus when the genin teams were assembled at the hall in the central tower of Forest of Death, the atmosphere was… tense. No one knew what to make of those rumours and no one really knew where it had began from in the first place. Was it some sort of hallucination caused by the forest or a tricky genjutsu? Was this phenomena face only by th Konohan's or other genin too?

The genin were assembled into lines and Hokage was at the front with the proctors and jounin senseis. Mari was acting as a sensei for Minami's team. She was the least conspicuous and least known of the three Shadow Killers after all.

Minami stood in the middle of his team's line. As Akio was tallest one of them currently(and Haru shortest) they'd decided to assemble according to height and not a perceived strength or position in the hierarchy of the team. It'd also throw a bit the other teams and gave Minami a chance to hide. Especially with the rumours going around. Rumours which greatly irked him. After he'd been called the Yellow Flash's ghost back in the forest, he'd decided to put an end to any possible rumours right then and there. And proceeded to hide in one of the rooms in the tower when he waited the days to tick by. And while the Konoha team responsible of this whole mess hadn't made it to the final round somehow they'd gotten the word to their fellows and from there it had spread like a wildfire. And if the ticking vein on his temple was anything to go by, he probably wouldn't last long.

Akio watched with slight amusement when his teammate bowed his head a gritted his teeth while the Sandaime Hokage droned on and on. It was obvious that they boy was _trying_ to listen to the speech but without much success. The brunette couldn't wait to see how Minami would react this time. Minami rarely lost his patience but when he did, the results were spectacular. No, the blonde didn't explode in rage. Instead he became deathly calm and composed and gave off an impression of someone beyond his years and experience. Like a ghost of the old. It was something hypnotising to see Minami to verbally rip apart his opponents while letting out a subtle but bone-chilling killing-intent. It was like being in the middle of Haru's ice mirrors except that you had no idea whether you'd be dead afterwards or not. With Haru you knew that if you were an enemy, you were dead. If you were an ally, you were not. When Minami snapped, you did not want to be on the receiving end of his icy-cold stare that lied in a mask of indifference or polite smile. Or a venomous glare but that wouldn't be talked out. Akio had to repress a shudder even when thinking about it. That combination mission with teams Five and Eight hadn't been a nice mission to begin with.

Haru glanced behind at her teammates. Minami was clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to keep calm. Akio was watching his friend with amusement and concealed wariness. What Haru had learnt about the to boys was that they were quite similar. Both semi-polite and laid-back with penchant for pranks. Both calm and collected for the most of time and when one of them began to be nervous for a reason or another, the other would start joking and making sure one wouldn't drift too far from present. Like had happened during the first days in Konoha. Akio had been nervous of being discovered to be the 'technically kidnapped' boy from nine years ago so Minami kept an eye on him. And now Minami seemed to be reaching his temper's end point so Akio kept an eye on him a was ready to step in and silence anyone who'd come into the way. It a was a good dynamic. And surprisingly Haru had fitted into it as well. She wasn't sure how, but she didn't feel like an outsider with them.

Hokage ended his speech and the Inuzuka proctor from the beginning of the second exam held out a box. The applicants were to pick a number which would be situated in the tournament roster then. How much it would be rigged, no one knew. Except the one who possibly rigged them of course. The tags were picked in the order in which the teams had come to the tower.

(No one was surprised when Konoha-nin drew number fifteen and had the chance to sit out the first match.)

Haru drew number one. Akio had number five. Minami looked at the number eleven in the rectangular tag he held in his hand. The genin were now a disorganized group and eyeing each other speculatively. The Iwa genin Minami would face in his first match was sneering(no surprise there).

"Yer the ghost, aren'che?" The Iwa boy spat out. His name was Masamune or something to that direction. Minami honestly didn't care. He simply stared despondently at the older boy who radiated arrogance and stupidity. Not to mention the way he spoke. Completely mangled.

"I'd consider your next words carefully." Minami stated calmly. His already thin and stretched nerves were wearing really thin. While he didn't usually mind being compared to his uncle, the manner it was done here: without any factual knowledge, was annoying. He was his own person, thank you very much.

"Why? Ye goin' ta kill me like that dead corpse of a Ho-."

" _Shut up."_

That words weren't loud. They weren't a whisper either. But they were a command. A command that swept the entire room and made people listen and turn their attention to the duo in the middle of the room. Other competitors were giving them a wide breath, making it obvious who were the cause of the commotion. Not that the jounin in the room would have any problems in spotting it.

Two teens. One large, tall and dark-colored, with tanned skin and dark eyes and hair(mud colored really). The other slim, shorter and light-colored, with pale skin and blue eyes and blonde hair. The contrast was clear between the two as was the power balance, but not to the direction to which a casual observer would tilt the scales.

The genin around were holding their breaths.

"Shut up before you foul this air with your stupidity." At the back of the crowd, leaning against the wall, Akio winced. It was the in different mask this time. Minami wouldn't even bother to be polite. And twinge of killing intent leaking wasn't really helping matters. Oh, well… He'd step in before something drastic would happen.

"How dare ye! Don'che know who yer talkin' ta, ghost?"

Minami inhaled. And exhaled. He was already trying to reign in his temper. "Technically the second part of exam is over and the third one hasn't started. That means there is no in-exam restrictions for me to kill you right here and now. Or during the up-coming weeks. Because neither of us is a Konoha shinobi, they wouldn't be able to retaliate either. Or course it could cause more of a strain between Iwagakure and Tanigakure but that's minor compared to what my sensei has managed during the last years… At most I'd receive a bingobook entry but in the end not many would be interested in me since I'm a relatively unknown genin still… Do you really want to try my patience once more? Or would you rather wait until the tournament where you might have a marginal chance of defeating me after a month of training and information gathering?"

"I… As if ye could beat me!" This specimen was more thick skulled that Minami had approximated. The blonde sighed once again and a kunai fell onto his hand from his jacket sleeve.

"You are trying my patience. One last chance. Even though you aren't even worth of the effort."

For some reason the jounin around were simply observing the situation. Maybe because there wasn't a Konoha genin in line. Or a clan kid. Because even the Iwa team's jounin sensei was doing nothing.

Or maybe, they wanted to see if Minami really was the ghost of the Fourth Hokage. Well, Akio wouldn't let that happen. The brunette pushed himself off the wall and walked casually through the crowd, stopping right behind Minami but not apart from the people behind him.

"Mina-chan, maybe intimidation is already enough? You can humiliate and slaughter and whatever hell you want to in the tournament then." Akio tucked his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels. The silence was palpable. He could almost taste it.

Minami straightened his back. He had been half-hunched while trying the keep calm and remained so when threatening. The blonde fixed a narrow icy-cold stare on the genin who obviously didn't realize he'd been saved from certain death here only to be thrown into certain humiliation. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. The blonde sighed once more and tucked the kunai away. He turned on his heels and strode to Akio.

"Don't call me that, I'm two months older that you, Aki."

"Whatever you say, Mina." Akio shrugged with a relieved smirk on his face. He was about to lead Minami away from the crowd when the blonde spoke with clear voice.

"For everyone's information… I'd appreciate if you didn't compare me to my uncle. My name is Kazekoi Minami and I'm a shinobi of Tanigakure no Sato. I'm not a ghost of a dead man regardless of how much I respect him."

* * *

 **Meanwhile in the Jounin lounge once more**

"Stop the video." Genma told Hayate. The sickly pale man obliged in the midst of harsh coughs. "Who is that kid?" The senbon user pointed a brown-haired boy with bandana-styled headband(with Hayate's style though, not Genma's) and goggles hanging from his neck. The quality of the video didn't capture the facial features that well but Genma could guess he was from Tani.

"Hmm… I'm not sure. Anko had the last list of applicants."

"I can try and find her." Yuugao offered. "It's weird how she never let us see that last page of the list and kept it for herself." With a whirl of leaves, the purple haired woman was gone.

"That's true." Kurenai nodded slowly. "She only mentioned that the Shadow Killer's were the senseis for them and by that time the first exam began we were paying attention that and not to the list itself."

Next to Genma, Raidou slowly reached to let the video from the central tower play on. It showed the altercation between Tani genin and Iwa genin. The threats weren't heard; they were said too quietly for the camera microphones to catch them(though the Iwa genin's responses were loud and clear). But then the blonde Tani-nin spoke up.

" _For everyone's information… I'd appreciate if you didn't compare me to my uncle. My name is Kazekoi Minami and I'm shinobi of Tanigakure no Sato. I'm not a ghost of a dead man regardless of how much I respect him."_

A stunned silence was among the jounin now too. Even Kakashi who'd lurked on the background with his orange book, was paying attention.

"Uncle?" Iwashi frowned. "Isn't that the kid who was the cause of the ghost rumours? The behavior just now would fit at least."

Kurenai, piecing two and two together, nodded slowly. "That would explain Aoba's behavior too. Wasn't Kazekoi Kenta the name of his sensei's fiancee?"

"You mean that after Nanami-san left to Tani, she had a kid there? This Minami kid?" Raidou pointed at the screen.

"Quite likely. And a reunion like that would easily be that cause of old Team Nanami's disappearance."

"But what about the brunette then? There must be something about him too, since Genma is all hackles raised about him."

"Maa… Genma, don't those two look like the two kids who visited Konoha two years ago?" Kakashi spoke up then. "The Two Month's of Terror?"

The senbon user groaned. "Oh, hell no…"

"Those two!?" Raidou choked on nothing. "They were a menace. Especially when teaming up with the Uzumaki brat."

"Didn't Anko try to chase them down after their stunt in T&I?" Kurenai giggled.

"That I did. And didn't succeed." And cue the entrance of the resident dango had apparently tracked the woman down and brought her to the lounge. "Now what is this about? I was in the middle of drafting the odds for the tournament betting…"

"Already?" Hayate frowned. "The results are barely out."

"Aoba." Anko replied like it explained everything. And it did really. One way or other.

"You found him then?"

"Yup, yesterday. And then today. The Terrible Trio was at Ichiraku's with Torino Fukurou."

"Terrible Trio? Since when was that a thing?" A new voice joined the conversation. It was Takenaka Aura who apparently had followed the two younger kunoichis to the tower.

"Since you three began conspiring with the Jounin Commander of Tanigakure." Kakashi replied.

"Since our graduation then." Aura deadpanned and sank into one of the couches in the lounge. "No one exactly _bothered_ to intercept our letters to Nanami-sensei back then. And then Minato-san became Hokage and wouldn't have stopped it even if he had the authority to. And now… Sandaime-sama either doesn't know, doesn't think it's relevant or has forgotten about the matter, or something along those veins."

"So… That blonde Tanigakure kid? Is he Nanami-san't son?" Raidou asked.

"Yeah. Cute kid, aren't he?" Aura grinned. "Fastest kid I've ever met. I bet he'll eventually surpass his uncle too. With Fukurou-san's tutelage that's more than guaranteed."

"Torino Fukurou… The Seer. Wasn't he identified as the two pranksters contact two years ago? When the strange rain hit village?" Iwashi thought aloud.

"The same rain that was over Forest of Death some days ago?" Yuugao threw in. Next to her, Anko sighed in irritation.

"Are you going to keep speculating or tell me why you actually dragged me away from my dango?"

"The list." Hayate spoke up. "*cough* You have the list of the Tanigakure participants that you refused to give us."

"Ah… Yes. I need to confirm something with Aoba but when I couldn't find him at first I just… Well, I just kept the list for myself." Anko sort of lied smoothly. She had only yesterday managed to confront the Intelligence TokuJo and squeeze the full story from him and Toshiro and Aura.

"So, since you've been in contact with him by now, you can give the list to us, right?" Iwashi smiled. "Withholding information must've messed up with some of the betting."

Anko swallowed. This wasn't her secret to tell. Yeah, the shit would hit the fan eventually but… The young woman glanced at Aura who was following the conversations with disinterested face. Their eyes met and the older kunoichi sighed.

"Go ahead, Anko-chan. They'd find out sooner or later anyways. And I bet by the time Nanami-sensei comes to the village, Hokage-sama will call a meeting with some of us."

"A meeting?" Genma frowned a suddenly everyone's eyes were on Aura. And woman just flicked her blonde hair behind her ear and didn't answer, waiting for Anko to show the list for the shinobi in the room. And like on command the paper exchanged hands between two purple haired women.

"I wash my hands from this. The whole situation is way too messy. Contact me again if you have bets to set for the tournament." Anko huffed and left with a whirl of her long coat. Yuugao stared at the retreating back before taking a look at the list. And froze.

"This…? How? Why?" The paper was promptly snatched by Hayate who simply coughed with slightly wide eyes before passing the paper along to Kurenai. And so the paper exchanged hands, rendering the jounin in the room into a thoughtful silence. And none of them were willing to look at Genma in the eyes until the paper reached him an Raidou. Aura in the other hand was watching this all in bemusement.

So the last remaining in the dark took a look at the names directly below Kazekoi Minami and…

"Toshiro and Aoba were in the gate guard duty on that day, weren't they?" Raidou spoke up while Genma remained staring at the list, his face completely white and the senbon already fallen on the floor from his lips.

"Yeah. We spoke with Nanami-sensei before she left with Fukurou-kun and Minami-kun… And Akio-kun too, since the boy so nicely asked to come along with them." Aura smiled, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the atmosphere in the room had completely changed.

* * *

 **A/N: Here. Phew. I hope you enjoyed this, reviews are welcome too. In the next chapter will be a meeting at Hokage's office when the Akio's disappearance is finally solved and it's time for him to make decision: whether to join Konoha forces or remain in Tani. Also, the final's will finally take the place and there will be three Kage and Nanami in attendance. Also, Fukurou is back in town, what will happen? Find out next time!**

 **(Damn, that sounded so cheesy...)**

 **I noticed when rereading my previously published chapters that I did not explain which techniques Haru, Mina and Aki are talking about when in Konoha. I'll rectify it here.**

 **From chapter 8:**

 **-Hiden: Shuugou Senshin - Hivemind technique that allows the user connect their mind with others. It's close to what the Yamanaka did during the Fourth War but not the same. The proper explanation will come when I introduce my Hanada characters to the story(no, Hanada Mirai doesn't count, she has another purpose).**

 **-Hyoton: Hyome Kagami - Ice Release: Ice-Eye Mirror. Inspired by both Haku's mirrors and Gaara's sand eye. Haru can observe everything from the mirror even though she remains on her seat.**

 **In general I try to use techniques found in Naruto Wikia(Like the ones used in chapter 9) but when needed, I'll come up with my own.**

 **Poll for SI-OC is still open if you are interested. Pairing suggestions are also open. And other suggestions. My plot has lot of empty spaces for fillers currently.**


	11. Leaves struck silent

**A/N: This took me way too long but at least I've finally finished this chapter. And still no tournament. It's in the next chapter. I promise, but this conversation needed to be out of the way first.**

* * *

 **Chapter eleven: Leaves struck silent**

Genma's mind was completely blank. The whirlwind of thoughts and emotions from past days was long gone. After the initial shock of the revelation that his younger brother had been alive all these years in a rival village(Tani may be neutral and in good terms with Konoha but they still competed with missions). He had felt rage at his supposed friend's betrayal, despair at his own ignorance, relief of finding the answer, sorrow of failing to be there for Akio during these years, and confusion. Oh, he was so confused. There was so much that he didn't know. So much that he wanted to ask from people. Why Aoba let Akio leave with his old jounin-sensei? Why exactly had Akio wanted to leave? How did he fare? Did he make friends? What was his specialization now as a shinobi? Did he remember anything about their parents and family?

But now was mere blankness. All thoughts were banished. Genma had spent some time watching Akio and Minami and their third teammate practicing at one of the training fields. They joked and jeered together, got along really well despite their teacher listing suggesting that they were a team only recently put together. They were friends… Akio had life outside of Genma. And the TokuJo wasn't sure should he be allowed to be hurt about the fact.

"Genma… Gen?" Raidou was shaking his shoulder. The senbon user blinked slowly, clacking the senbon in his mouth against his teeth, thus acknowledging the other man. Raidou had taken the revelation relatively heavily too, Toshiro was his cousin after all. "Genma… I think we should go to Hokage. If anything else, he will be informed about the situation."

"Yeah… Got it."

* * *

Naturally Sandaime Hokage was already aware of the development of the situation. Sort of had been ever since seeing the lists of the participants to the exam but had wanted to see how the situation would develop. Genma wasn't angry at the leader of the village for not informing him. Not really. He was just resigned and tired.

"It's just…" He talked to Kakashi later that day. "When there was the other kids disappearing, I thought Akio was among them. But when Orochimaru's lab was raided, he wasn't found. I was relieved that Akio wasn't part of those twisted experiments but at the same time scared what else could it be…"

"And then the Root was discovered." The Copy-nin stated behind his trusty orange book. "Tenzo was brought into Anbu…"

"And Akio hadn't even been in Danzou's clutches…" Genma ran a hand across his face. "I… I don't know what to think anymore. In a way I'm relieved that all this time he was safe in Tani. But in the other hand one of my friend's betrayed my trust in letting him go. I… I admit I was never the best brother but…"

"He was still your family and now probably just a stranger."

"Yeah…"

* * *

"Argh, I lost again…" Akio muttered and laid down the remaining cards in his hand. Minami grinned at him.

"Tough luck, Aki."

"You keep trying to get the Tsuki-Fuda(monthly cards) and Ino-Shika-Cho(Boar-Deer-Butterfly) that you get completely blind to other combinations." Haru frowned while peering at the tally on a scrap piece of paper she had. "Minami has had Kasu(Plains) and Tane(Animals) and Tanzaku (Ribbons)… He shows some variety and flexible thinking here."

"C'mon! It's not like this is shogi or something!"

"You could at least try for Akatan(Red Ribbons)! It's not that hard!"

"This is just a card game!"

"Then don't complain if you lose!"

"Ahem…." There was a cough behind the trio sitting on the ground of one of the training grounds. The three Tani genin whirled around to look at the cloaked anbu with a rabbit mask before them.

"Yes?" Minami asked, stepping forward and automatically taking the lead.

"Hokage-sama wishes to speak with Shiranui Akio." The anbu spoke. The voice was vaguely feminine. But that didn't matter to the three as Minami frowned and Akio and Haru exchanged glances.

"Has Nanami-sama arrived already?" Minami spoke up. "We…. Any of us won't come to the meeting if she is not present."

"Kawabara-sama's representant is by the gates with their delegation. A runner was sent for them too." Did she try to placate them by sharing that information? Well, it worked. Sort of.

"Did Hokage-sama say whether or not we could accompany Akio?" Haru asked tentatively.

"He did not."

"Then we are coming." Minami announced.

"Mina, you guys really don't need to." Akio tried to stop his friend.

"If the conversation is about what I think it is, then I do. And if it isn't, there is no way I'd let you go alone."

"We got your back, Akio." Haru smiled to the brunette who sighed in defeat. He knew there was no stopping the two.

"Right, lead the way then, Anbu-chan."

* * *

There was some people gathered in a conference room instead of Hokage's office. Apparently the old man had anticipated that there'd be more people than necessarily comfortable to have in the office and like this there definitely was space. Everyone responsible about the events nine years ago, were gathered. Akio saw Nanami-sama with her entourage(the three jounin senseis of their team and members of Four Deaths minus Katana for some reason), the woman's old genin trio(Aoba, Toshiro, Aura), and some shinobi of Konoha. Actually, just Akio's brother Genma and Toshiro's cousin Raidou. Plus some anbu hiding in the shadows. The brunette swallowed. He really didn't feel like going through this discussion now.

Minami clapped a hand on Akio's shoulder.

"Relax Aki, it'll be fine." He told his best friend before retreating to stand next to Fukurou and Shigure. Haru smiled to Akio and joined the blonde then. Akio heard Minami asking Shigure about where Katana was.

" _Some kid managed to snatch her hairband. I believe she is chasing around the streets by now."_ Fukurou chuckled.

But then the brunette's attention was on the other adults of the room.

"Nanami-sama, Hokage-sama." The teen gave a shallow bow, while the tone of his voice gave nothing away. Right now, even the nervousness was gone, leaving only empty apathy in its stead. And he studiously avoided looking at Genma.

"Ah, good that you could come so swiftly." Hokage smiled genially but Akio suspected it was more for a show. "I'd like to ask some questions from you and some of your fellow villagers about something that happened nine years ago."

"My disappearance after Yondaime's memorial service and funeral at October 16th. Something that which could be classified as a kidnapping." Akio replied blandly.

"Exactly. While we have the confirmation that you are indeed Shiranui Akio, I – and some others – would like a clarification for the events exactly taking place."

"You do understand Hokage-sama that anything pertaining our village secrets will not be disclosed." Nanami spoke icily. "And if you even start demanding Akio-kun's return to Konoha, the discussion will end at right this moment."

"Why? The Shiranui's are Konohan shinobi family. Akio belongs to here!" Raidou burst out. Apparently he was taking offense on Genma's behalf. Nanami fixed a cold blue eyed stare on the scarred man.

"You don't know much about Tani politics, do you? We are scavengers, researchers, collectors, protectors… We are hated and respected throughout the elemental nations if one just stops to listen to the whispers. Our information network is the most extensive one. Having only rivals from Akasuna no Sasori and Sannin no Jiraya… We welcome anyone and everyone as long as they won't harm our own. But if you try to leave or take of our own… We strike back. Silently but with force and adaptability, like a river coursing through shallows, rocks and large resevoirs.

"So now we'll only talk. And what ever information you find and what ever you might suggest, the final decision lies in mine – and Akio-kun's – hands."

"That's true." Mari spoke. "You might try to demand the return of Akio-kun but this is no Hyuuga Fiasco. Akio is one of our _genin_. He may not have received Kawa-hitai-ate yet but he'll definitely get one with his promotion. And wearing the symbol of Kawa no Kuni ties you to country and the true secrets. Everyone in the country and outside of it knows it, so it isn't like you are completely ignorant to this." The woman took a breath. "Akio is a talented shinobi as you have seen through all that footage you gathered on all the applicants and the anbu spying on them. He is basically guaranteed to get a promotion and the upcoming tournament is just a formality for us. As his jounin sensei I would've field promoted him a half a year ago already if he'd had enough actual field experience by then."

"I see. I understand your point. The secrets of one's village are to be protected." Hokage nodded. "All the same I want to know how you managed to breach the security of mine."

Ah, and there was the Shinobi no Kami speaking.

"Akio-kun. Why don't you begin?" Nanami smiled encouragingly to the teen and Akio felt like having some warmth in him again.

"I was at the memorial stone by one of the training areas. The new names from the Kyuubi Attack had been added during the past week. Since my parents had just been at home and not fighting like other shinobi when they died, their names naturally weren't there. But on those days I didn't really have anything else to do. I wasn't allowed to train, though I still carried the scroll containing my practice weapons around… None of my family had any time for me. Everyone was either on missions or then helping with the reconstruction. Considering Genma's rank and skill, he was on the former. The last I'd seen of him was when he came to pick me up from the evacuation point. Next morning he was already gone."

Genma flinched at that. He knew he had been dealing with a lot. Death of Yondaime, death of their parents, loss of home… He had thought Akio would be in good hands among the other (orphaned) children that were being looked after by some retired shinobi that couldn't otherwise help with reconstruction effort.

"I didn't feel like staying at that house in the other words, so I took to wandering the safe and undamaged parts of the village. That's when I met with Minami and Fukurou-sensei." The blonde teenager and the black-haired man looked up at the mention of their names. Nanami nodded to them. Fukurou ran a hand through his messy locks while a sigh escaped his lips. He really had wished to avoid talking during this meeting. Oh well…

"I… I came to Konoha with Nanami-sama and Minami-kun. There was some others but we parted ways at the village. While Nanami-sama attended the ceremony, I took Minami-kun on a tour around Konoha since…" At this he stopped for a moment. Should he reveal this tidbit about himself? The scales of trust could go to either direction afterwards. "Since I'm Konoha-born myself despite being part of the Torino clan now. So I knew the places relatively well and wanted Minami to see the best of Konoha."

"You're Konohan?" Hokage asked sharply, grey eyes boring into the mismatched pair of black and light blue. Fukurou nodded slowly, not averting his gaze but keeping his face impassive.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"I assume that even your first name is fabrication then."

"That actually is Torino clan's thing as you well know. Fukurou is my bird name and my real name is disclosed only to my closest family members, of blood or not."

"One of those is me, as Fukurou's adoptive father is my husband's brother." Nanami added.

"Your husband the Kawabara? Torino Taka?" Sarutobi frowned, understanding very well how this all could have political ramifications if he were somehow to act against any of the Torino Clan member's present in the room. The count which also included Minami and maybe even Akio too. It was after all entirely possible the boy was adopted to the clan per Tani fashion yet still kept his name.

Nanami merely smiled and then glanced at Minami. The blonde boy took the hint and tell his part of the story.

"I don't know how much my words weight in this conversation… I'm the same age that Akio, just some months older… So I was also five at the time. The entire time I was in Konoha, I was with Fukurou-sensei for my safety. And when wandering and seeing the sights – however damaged they were – we came across Akio at the Memorial Stone. Fukurou-sensei had his reasons of going there as had Akio, and through coincidence we met. Due curiosity five-year-olds possess, we began asking questions of each other and thus I – with Fukurou-sensei's help – told Akio about Tani. By the end of it, he asked whether he could come with us."

"I promised we'd ask about the matter from Nanami-sama whom we met then at the main gates with her previous team." Fukurou added.

"And what exactly possessed you to take Akio-kun to Tanigakure?" Sarutobi turned his attention once again to Nanami. The woman's smile slid away to a slightly melancholic expression.

"It was a multiple of reasons I suppose… Minami liked him and it would've been a pity to separate them… Akio himself wanted to leave without any genjutsu to coerce him… But maybe most of all I thought that…" She sighed. "That even if I couldn't give a home to my orphaned nephew, I could at least help this boy in a similar situation."

* * *

There was a silence. Only scant few people knew the exact details behind the explanation(the identity of the nephew and the obvious reason why she couldn't take him in). And those people were Nanami, Hokage, Minami, Akio, Fukurou and… Anbu Hound(Inu).

"So you can probably realize by now that it wasn't out of spite that I took a child of one of your shinobi families with me to Tani, Hokage-sama." There was a dangerous edge in the smile that appeared on Nanami's face this time. Smile that usually preluded the appearance of the Silent Death right in the shadow of Yellow Flash. But this time there wasn't a Namikaze Minato to attack first and draw the attention before the far deadlier opponent struck.

"I understand, Torino-san." Hokage finally nodded. God of Shinobi he may be… But even the united front standing in front of him made him reconsider his options. After all there was The Silent Death, The Shadow Killers, three very talented genin who most likely had concealed the extent of their talents during the exams and… Aoba, Aura and Toshiro of Konoha. Tokubetsu or full Jounin all of them who could take down with relative ease the other Jounin in the room. And they still had not explained their part in the events. Sarutobi turned to address them. "Aura-kun, Aoba-kun, Toshiro-kun… you were at the gate on that day. What happened?"

The trio glanced at each other before Toshiro stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama… We saw the exchange between Akio-kun and Nanami-sensei." Everyone noted how the jounin still addressed the Tani-nin as his teacher despite her not teaching him for over a decade. "And… we know Tanigakure. We have been there. And we trust Nanami-sensei's judgment. We know Akio would be alright with her. Especially considering the state Konoha was afterwards… And then the revelations of-." Toshiro cut himself off before revealing sensitive information about the kidnappings of children to the Tani-jin in the room. "Anyways… We all just realized… that Akio-kun would be alright."

"Afterwards we continued keeping contact to Nanami-sensei, just like before 10th of October. We heard how Akio-kun was doing and in exchange we wrote her how Nanami-sensei's nephew was doing." Aura spoke up. "If Hokage-sama deems our actions during last nine years… treasonous, we are ready to face the consequences."

"Not trying to run away then?" Raidou glared at the trio. Aoba narrowed eyes back while Aura grabbed Toshiro's shoulder so the young man wouldn't attack his own cousin.

"No. We stand behind our actions. We are shinobi of Konoha despite our connections to outside. Thus if the leader of the village deems us guilty of crimes, we'll accept whatever punishment chosen to fit that crime." Aoba spoke. It was clear on the faces of the three that they'd arrived to the meeting fully aware they could be accused of treason and thus be imprisoned for life or even executed. Konoha having a 'nice' reputation or not, treason was a serious crime. It was interesting how only one instance compounded on so many lives. What has begun as a simple questioning and clarification of events was about to turn into a… what? One couldn't be sure.

"But there is no need for that quite yet." Hokage told the trio. "Right now I need to hear from Akio-kun what he thinks about his own situation and how he wishes to proceed. I understand that I can't exactly demand a citizen of Konoha to be returned if they are a shinobi in other village. Especially not it the individual does not wish to return."

And thus the previous tension was diffused and all the attention was on Akio. The boy refused to fidget or even swallow nervously. After all he was sure about his decision. There had never been any doubt about it and he definitely didn't need 'some extra time to reconsider'.

"Tani is my home. That's were my friends and new family are. That's were my loyalties are. That's the place where I learnt about everything I know about being a shinobi. I do appreciate Konoha and what I had here but… Tani is where I belong to." Akio spoke and Hokage nodded with a genial smile on his face.

"As I expected. We shall conclude the meeting here. I wish you three luck on the finals in coming in two days." The old man nodded to Akio, Minami and Haru who all had surprised expressions on their faces. After all Tani was still a rival to Konoha in chuunin exams.

* * *

The crowd began dispersing then. "Alright, Haru-chan, we shall go back to the training ground you three have been using. I want to see how you've kept up training." Shigure was first to leave with his student. At Nanami's nod, Saki, Suzume and Mirai left too. Hokage had requested for her old genin team to remain and Nanami was determined to supervise the following 'interrogation'. While she knew that the three would not leave to Tanigakure with her, she still wanted to be a moral support for them.

"Akio-kun, I'll go to look for my sister. It's been a while since I saw her. Then I'll join Shigure and Haru-chan. You can find me there." Mari told before leaving the room after the trio of girls.

"I… Alright." Akio frowned but glanced then at the direction of his brother. Genma looked back at him and then, as one, the two brothers walked out of the room too.

"Right… I guess I should take a leaf out of my team mates' books and snatch my student with me but… frankly, I don't feel like it." Fukurou shrugged.

"That's fine, you lazy-ass. I'll just go to look for Katana-chan. Where did she go by the way?" Minami was about to walk towards the door with his teacher when…

" _GET BACK HERE YOU BRAT!"_

An angry female voice echoed throughout the building. Followed by children's laughter. Two children, yet the yelling young woman addressed only one of them. Before the remaining occupants of the meeting room managed to do more than glance at each other, the door banged open and an orange blur, a lilac blur and a slightly bigger red blur ran into the room. The first blur was caught by Minami, revealing it to be a blonde boy in orange shirt and black shorts. The second blur rammed head first into Fukurou who caught her and lifted her on his shoulders.

"Hello, Rui-chan. Your sister is looking for you."

"She is?!" The little girl with light, reddish brown hair asked with delighted expression while she straightened her light violet sleeveless top.

" _You two…"_ The last blur has stopped on her own. She was of medium height, with her waist-length bright red hair flowing all around her like waves in air. Crimson Terror had arrived.

But Minami just grinned and waved cheerfully at her.

"Katana-chan, long time no see!"

As an answer he got a glower but the blonde just kept smiling, seemingly oblivious of the stares they were receiving from the other occupants of the room. Meanwhile the bundle of sunshine in Minami's arms, nine-year-old Uzumaki Naruto, regained his bearing and looked up to see who was holding him.

"Ah, Nami-niichan?!"

"Hullo, itoko. And from now on it's Minami, okay?"

"Okay! Where's Aki-niichan?"

"Somewhere." Minami shrugged. "Now… what did you do, to get my girlfriend's wrath upon yourself?"

"It was Rui-chan's idea!"

"It was not!" Rui protested. "… okay, maybe it was but you went along with it!"

"What did you do?" Fukurou asked then.

"They stole bunch of my stuff!" Katana huffed. But in closer inspection one could see she wasn't exactly mad at the two, just a tad annoyed. That was probably also the reason why none of the Anbu had tried to stop her, a foreign kunoichi, from chasing Naruto, the jinchuuriki.

"You hairband collection in the other words."

"Among other things." Katana huffed, holding out her hand at Naruto. "Cough them up, dayo!"

"I have nothing, dattebayo!"

"Yes, you have. I saw you getting your loot back from Rui-chan."

"…Why don't we go outside to settle this?" Fukurou cut in. "Nanami-sama and Hokage-sama need to continue their meeting."

"Sure. Come on you two, let's go to get Ramen." Minami agreed. "Fukurou-sensei pays."

"Oi!"

"Sounds good. Maybe that Ichiraku's. We ran past it. And I remember you mentioning it two years ago too…" Katana agreed, surprisingly quickly.

"Trust the Uzumaki be placated by ramen…" Fukurou muttered dejectedly.

"Uzumaki? You are an Uzumaki too, neechan?" Naruto perked up when the group was making their way back to the door.

"Yeah, my grandmother is Uzumaki Kiku. Besides my hair is sort of a giveaway." Katana flicked her long red locks over her shoulder. "Could I finally get my hair bands back? I really like the blue ones."

"They look like a family." Rui mused to Fukurou. The man smiled wistfully, thinking of another pair of blonde man and red-haired woman.

"Yes, they do."

"Fukurou!" Nanami called after the jounin when the 'family-trio' had gone through the door.

"Yes, Nanami-sama?"

"I want pictures. A lot." The stern woman said.

"Sure, Nanami-sama."

"May I have a couple of copies too?" Sarutobi requested then. Fukurou and Rui blinked in unision.

"…Sure."

* * *

 **A/N: Alright folks. I dunno in which pace I'll be updating. I have so many fics under work after all and it might be that I'll start one chapter but don't finish it when inspiration runs out...**

 **But I do have decided some things. Rui is going to be an SI-OC. She'll be properly be introduced later on though. Pairings for canon characters are still open though.**

 **And please do review. I know this chuunin exam arc has stretched quite a bit because of Akio's family drama but it'll be over soon. Promise.**


	12. Battle among the Leaves

**A/N: I know that this might not be the chapter to fics you've been waiting for but I really needed to write this. I had fun and I'm glad this exam arc is now done.**

* * *

 **Chapter twelve: Battle among the Leaves**

The dawn of the tournament day was bright and a slightly chilly despite the time of the year. And the Tani genin woke up to knocking on the door of their hotel room door. When Akio opened it, he found Rui standing there with Naruto.

"Morning?" The brunette blinked tiredly. He was already in his regular day clothes but without coffee his state of alertness was shot down whenever he wasn't on a mission.

"Morning, Aki-niichan!" Naruto greeted the older boy.

"Good morning, Akio-nii!" Rui chirped. "The academy classes will be watching the finals so you better be giving your best performance."

"Sure. You get to see me beat some Konoha nin's ass." The teen leaned against the door frame with a lazy smirk on his face.

"When is your turn in the tournament?" Rui asked then, tilting her head cutely. Damn, the girl already knew how to use her looks to get information.

"My fight should be the third one. Haru-chan has the first one and Mina should be in the sixth one."

"And I'm going to be brilliant in it too." Minami appeared behind his best friend. "Yesterday I managed to finish The Technique."

"The Technique?" Akio repeated in astonishment. "Already? You've been working it for years."

"Okaa-san gave me some pointers and now it's much more chakra efficient. I also managed to get down the supplementing jutsus I came up with."

"What is the Technique?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"You'll see it then." The blonde teen ruffled his little cousin's hair. "Now, shoo, let us prepare."

"Hai!" The two children chorused.

* * *

They were standing on a row. All fifteen hopefuls to become a chuunin. Six from Konoha, two from Kiri, three from Iwa and three from Tani.

"First, Yuki Haru of Tanigakure and Momoko of Kirigakure! Other contestants please go to the balcony to watch." The proctor announced.

At the Kage box, the yondaime Mizukage Yagura narrowed his eyes.

"Yuki?" He asked acidly from Nanami.

"Well, she was found wandering the Fire country… Shigure-kun brought her to village." The woman smiled back before turning to look down at the arena where the fight was about to start.

"And start!" The proctor announced, withdrawing from the immediate strike distance between the two girls. The Kiri girl, Momoko, lashed out with water technique and several kunai. Haru nimbly dodged them and responded with senbon. One of them reached the girl, getting stuck on her arm. Haru raced forward and threw more senbon.

"Gugh…" Momoko grunted when the needles hit her torso and leg muscles. Nevertheless she went through the next set of seals.

" **Suiton: Mizurappa!"  
(Water Release: Wild Water Wave)**

Haru dodged beneath the mass of water and retreated a bit. Her opponent was frustratingly stagnant and unmovable. But now Haru had enough water for her use.

" **Hyoton: Hyooga!"  
(Ice Release: Glacier)**

The entire floor of the arena was covered in smooth pane of ice. Even the natural ridges and stones were now smoothed over. Momoko tried to remain standing by channeling chakra to her feet but failed miserably. She simply was in too much pain to remain properly balanced. Haru in the other hand slid steadily across the ice and launched a taijutsu attack on the girl who could barely defend herself. The fight ended in a knock-out when Haru kicked Momoko away and let the girl slide all the way to the edge of the arena where she smashed into the wall.

"And the winner is, Yuki Haru of Tanigakure!" The proctor announced once the ice was vanished into thin air. Medic-nin collected the Kiri-nin and took her to med-bay. Haru lifted her fist into air in triumph.

"Great work Haru!" Akio yelled from the contestant balcony. In Kage box Nanami fanned herself with a smug smile on her face. It was a pity that her husband, the Yondaime Kawabara, Torino Taka couldn't come to see but at the same time she was happy that she was able to be here. And she was happy that she didn't need to wear that ridiculous hat that the Kages sitting next to her were wearing. Oh, the Kawabara did have a hat but it was round, not rectangular-ish. And lacked that ridiculous cloth on hanging on the sides.

"I have a feeling my genin will have a strong showing in this tournament." The woman spoke. Sandaime Tsuchikage Oonoki snorted.

"As if. Iwa shall be in victorious one this year."

"Like it was last year?" Nanami deadpanned. The two exams from last year had been in Kiri and Kumo and on both exams, it had been the host villages that had won.

"Now, now, let's enjoy this tournament. We have only seen one fight this far." Hokage chuckled, playing peacemaker between his colleagues. Yes, Nanami counted as a colleague and equal to Kage. Her skill spoke for herself despite being 'only' the second-in-command for the 'minor' village.

With a grudging silence, the four of them settled to watch the match between a Konoha genin and Iwa genin. Iwa won.

* * *

"Next, Shiranui Akio of Tanigakure and Inuzuka Jin of Konohagakure." The both contestants jumped down from the balcony with the Inuzuka boy's ninken following them. Both Nanami and Hiruzen straightened at that.

"And begin!"

As soon as the permission to start had been given, Akio dropped his sealing scroll from his back and kicked it open. Then jumped up to avoid the Inuzuka's attack. It forced him to abandon his scroll but as it unraveled and spread around the arena, it became evident for the spectators that there was a plan in the works.

" **Gatsuuga!"  
(Fang Passing Fang)**

Akio pulled his goggles on his eyes and made a backflip to dodge. While the Inuzuka was letting the turn become wide, the brunette raced to his scroll and unsealed a spool of ninja wire and several explosive tags. The kunai he retrieved from his weapon pouch.

"Hah, you think you can stop me with mere wire!" Inuzuka taunted. Akio just quirked an eyebrow.

"Something along those lines." The brunette shrugged, attaching the exploding tags to the kunai. He casually jumped to another point of his scroll and unsealed plain smoke tags which outwardly looked almost like exploding ones.

The Inuzuka attacked again. Akio began running. His opponent was all fangs and claws. Especially when his dog joined in. The Tani genin ended up dodging and jumping around a lot all the while throwing kunai and shuriken at the pair. Some seal tags exploded, some merely let out smoke but both were leading the Inuzuka to the ideal place. As in the cover of smoke, Akio placed his trap. The ninja wire was looped through every kunai and shuriken and thus crisscrossed the center of the arena. Akio flicked his scroll to roll close and followed it until the first seal in it. He unsealed a blade that outwardly resembled a thin but long kunai. While Akio preferred shuriken, senbon and kunai with some jutsu, he was also quite adept with other weapons.

With a quick and many times practiced move, Akio hoisted his scroll back to his back and crouched low to wait the next attack.

Following the boy's scent, the Inuzuka plus dog attacked again. But Akio was ready. With a swing of his blade, blood splattered the arena and a wounded dog howled. Inuzuka Jin yelled in anger and dashed forwards but then Akio activated the wire trap. The ninja wire coiled and sprung up to wrap around the boy. With virtually no room to move and some explosive tags decorating it…

"Do you yield, Inuzuka-san?" The boy was older than Akio so some 'respect' wasn't entirely amiss. Jin tried to twist away from the wires but as he couldn't even use his hands to form seals and thus couldn't use Replacement jutsu and his dog was out of commission…

"I yield…" The half-feral genin grunted form between gritted teeth. His dog let out a whine.

"The winner is… Shiranui Akio of Tanigakure!" The proctor announced.

"My, that was such an interesting fight." Nanami chuckled and fanned herself. Hiruzen nodded slowly. While there was certain similarities between the skillsets of the two Shiranui brothers, there was still distinct differences based on the education and interests.

* * *

"I don't know if that was more efficient or simply more show-off…" Nohara Mari muttered as she leaned her elbows against the railing of the shinobi section of the audience. Or rather the jounin sensei section from the regular shinobi, academy students and normal civilians. Invited and special guests were at the other side of Kage box and the competitors were approximately opposite them.

"Well, he definitely didn't do the usual 'jump up and dump the entire scroll at the enemy'." Shigure remarked from next to her.

"And that's probably only because the scroll is too long and heavy for that purpose." Mari deadpanned back. "He told me it was only for the first match. In the next ones he'll use a couple of smaller ones that were sealed into that one."

"He's banking on facing Minami in the final, isn't he?" Fukurou spoke up next. He was standing on his teammate's other side.

"Hai…" Mari let out a long breath. "To be honest, I find it entirely likely. The other competitors we've seen this far haven't exactly struck as good."

The statement gained some glares from the other jounin at the balcony. Mari just threw a smirk at them. Next pair of contestants, from Konoha and Kiri, were fighting in the arena. It seemed like the Konoha nin was winning, just barely. He was better in taijutsu but had gotten hit by some nasty paralyzer from the Kiri girl's kunai. He was getting sloppier.

"Five minutes and he'll fall." Shigure estimated. "He should finish her quickly."

Fukurou reached to remove his eye patch over his left eye but lowered his hand then. Mari looked up at him.

"Is it bothering you?" She didn't elaborate whether she referred to the patch itself or the transplant eye. Even though she had the knowledge to ease the strain and had fixed the damage caused by enemy jutsu two years ago, Fukurou still occasionally suffered from stabbing pains travelling through the eye socket whenever the eye was exposed to light. During those times he preferred to wear an eye patch to cover the eye.

"A bit… Do you think you could check it during a break?"

"Sure."

* * *

The break was announced after the match that the Konoha-nin won. People were shifting in their seats. Some went to bathroom, some to buy lunch. Chatter filled the audience balconies. Mari led Fukurou away from the foreign shinobi and sat him against wall. The eye patch was removed and glowing green healing chakra covered her hand and then the left side of his face. The young man sighed in relief when the pain receded.

"What's the diagnosis?" Shigure asked when approaching the pair.

"I might need to do a surgery once we are back in Tani to see what exactly is wrong but for now it should be alright. Tell me immediately if the pain worsens, okay Fukurou-kun?"

"I will. No worries Mari-chan."

"By the way… I saw _that guy_ in the audience." Shigure stated then. Mari smirked the Fukurou.

" _That guy_? Uh oh, Fukurou-kun… You gonna go to talk with him?" She teased the ex-Uchiha who blushed.

"Be careful. After your last meeting I told him very clearly I'd kill him if he steps out of line." Shigure spoke from above them.

"Stop it, you two…" Fukurou groused.

* * *

The matches continued. First was two Konoha-nin against each other. Genjutsu beat Ninjutsu just barely. Then was a match that had been anticipated since the end of the second phase of the exam.

"Next, Kazekoi Minami of Tanigakure and Masamura Koichi of Iwagakure." So his name was Masamura, not Masamune… Minami shrugged mentally. It didn't matter really, he was going to win this match anyways.

"And begin!"

"I'm goin' ta pummel ya!" Masamura growled. Minami just smiled.

"You're welcome to try." What he'd learnt of his opponent was that he heavily leaned towards Earth ninjutsu and some taijutsu. Relatively slow but heavy hitter otherwise. His temper also indicated that he'd charge right into the fray.

"Raaah!"

And Minami was right in his estimation. Masamura ran forwards, fist raised. With a Replacement technique, the blonde avoided the fist to gut.

In the Kagebox, Nanami snorted before turning to address one of her guards.

"Katana-chan, what do you think of Minami-kun's performance this far?"

The redhead drew some of her crimson lock behind her ear before focusing on the fight going on in the arena. She smirked.

"It seems to me that Minami-kun isn't taking this fight seriously."

"What?" Oonoki growled.

"It is obvious, isn't it?" Yagura stated blandly. "This far Kazekoi has only used Kawarimi and some simple taijutsu and even then he has let the opponent to reach him."

"Minami-kun is goading Masamura-kun's temper and letting everyone see that the boy is not ready be leading the missions." Nanami explained. "Despite village pride, you must see this too, Tsuchikage-sama."

There was some grumbling from the eldest(and the shortest) person in the box but in the end Oonoki didn't disagree, just unhappily watched as his genin was being played with.

" **Doton: Ganchuusoo!"  
(Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears)**

The mentioned spears erupted from the ground, trying to skewer Minami who dodged them by leaping in the air.

"After drawing lots to decide the placements of this tournament, you confronted me…" Minami spoke at the height of his jump before gravity began pulling him back to ground. His hands were in his pockets and legs folded beneath him, as if Minami was sitting in seiza in the air. But as he began to descend, his legs straightened out and he landed near silently despite the height he'd reached. "You wanted to know if I was… a ghost of Yondaime Hokage, the Kiiroi Senko. Frankly I'm not interested in fighting you. Or proving you right or wrong. You aren't worth of my attention." It could've sounded arrogant but the way it was delivered was bland. Minami honestly didn't care of the guy he was facing. The other genin was already humiliated though so it was time to end this farce.

A short sprint, eyes barely tracking the movement, and Minami was right in front of Masamura. A knee to the gut and elbow to the back of the neck, and the Iwa genin went down. He was even exhausted for running around after Minami while the blonde was barely winded, that he couldn't even get up. Especially not when Minami pressed his right foot between Masamura's shoulder blades and held him down. The Iwa genin struggled feebly but slumped then.

"The winner is: Kazekoi Minami of Tanigakure!" The proctor announced.

" _That was brilliant, Nami-niichan!"_ Was shouted from the audience. Naruto. Minami looked up to the direction of the voice and grinned when he spotted the flash of yellow amidst other academy students. He gave a victory sign for his cousin and only his cousin.

* * *

Next was Iwa nin versus Kiri-nin. It was a tough match that Iwa won but lost then to the Konoha-nin who'd gotten a freebie and thus relatively easily defeated her tired opponent. The tally of fifteen genin had been brought to seven. After five minutes of a break, next three matches were to commence.

And so they did. Haru was against Iwa-nin and after some clever use of her mirrors and wind jutsu, she finally knocked her opponent unconscious. Akio let loose with his weapons against the taijutsu using Konohan. It was pretty much long range versus short range. Every time the Konohan tried to close the distance, Akio let loose another torrent of steel. While his opponent was quite adept at dodging, it didn't last long. After effects of the paralyzer from the previous match and the bloodloss endured was making sloppy once again and when Akio finally let the distance close, the Konohan went down with a well-aimed chop to jugular.

(In the audience, an academy student named Tenten was watching the match with her eyes shining. She had found a new idol to admire alongside Tsunade-sama.)

In Minami's next match he was against the Konohan genjutsu user. She was a Yamanaka but apparently she'd realized she couldn't only rely on her clan jutsu. Especially not considering that she wasn't part of a traditional Ino-Shika-Chou formation. No Nara to catch her targets first…

" **Shushin!"  
(Body Flicker)**

Minami teleported closer to her. Quick hand seals later he aimed for her stomach.

" **Raiton: Bakurai!"  
(Lighting Release: Depth Charge)**

The girl avoided just barely and jumped away in order to weave a genjutsu. Minami noticed the moment it took hold. A simple Hell Viewing technique. He stopped for a moment in interest to see what she had come up with to 'torture' him but grimaced then. A gruesome battlefield. Not very imaginative but very well crafted. Smells and air pressure were all different to the arena. He was about to dispel it when he noted familiar faces among the corpses. Akio, Haru, Nanami, Katana, Fukurou, Rui…

Minami fell on his knees in shock, the slight sting woke him up from the jutsu, just in time for him to see the girl trying to prepare the mind-body transfer.

"Oh, no you don't." And Minami was on the move. He was the fastest genin in this tournament and it was showing. Yamanaka Yuri had barely time to react once she realized the genjutsu was gone now. She ducked underneath a punch and Minami slid to stop some meters behind her.

"I got to admit, you did your research." Minami spoke. "From blonde to blonde, we are sometimes quite smart."

"You set yourself as a target after second phase. It was obvious you'd be victorious form your first match so I spent time in finding out your weak spots." Yuri smirked. "And the little meeting with Hokage-sama and your outing with your friends wasn't exactly a secret."

Minami nodded. It was quite true.

" **Katon: Hibashiri!"  
(Fire Release: Running Fire)**

Damn, the girl managed to distract him. She spat fire that formed circle in midair and headed towards Minami. The boy jumped and dived through the ring. He landed with a roll and the stunt earned applause from the audience. Minami smirked a bit. Previously he hadn't really paid attention to the audience other than the occasional cheer from Naruto but now. Maybe he could rouse some more reactions.

" **Shushin!"**

" **Raiton: Bakurai!"**

"You really think you can get me with that?" Yuri flipped out of the way. Minami just grinned and drew two ordinary kunai. He began running. Haru might use her ice mirrors for quick movement, but Minami had no need for them. He had his hard-earned natural speed and replacement and body-flicker both at his disposal.

And so cuts began appearing on the girl's body along with some other bruises. At first she didn't react much, just shielding her face and chest and neck. Then…

Burst of chakra just when the next hit touched her unprotected kidney and Minami was sent flying. He landed on his feet.

"Reverse offensive technique?" The golden blonde boy asked the ashy blonde girl. "Gathered enough chakra to lash out at me?"

"Yeah…" Yuri sounded a bit out of breath but moved to offensive position instead of defensive. Minami didn't let her rest.

"It was brilliant." He flashed a smile, making her blink in confusion while he weaved through the seals.

 _ **Boar – Ram – Snake – Horse – Dragon**_

" **Raiton: Jibashi!"  
(Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)**

With a sealess flicker, Minami was in front of Yuri again and grabbed her by the shoulders while electricity coursed between his palms and through her. It wasn't enough to kill or even permanently harm but it gave her a good shock into system, knocking her out. Minami let her fall and let out a breath he'd been holding. This had been a bit trickier battle but it actually had been fun. And apparently the audience agreed if the way they were cheering had anything to interpret from.

"The Winner is: Kazekoi Minami of Tanigakure!"

* * *

And thus the second round of the battles were done. Four genin left. The entire Tani-team and the lone Konohan. A bit of pressure on the kid at home arena.

Haru and Akio were first. It was a flurry of ice, water and wind with steel flying back and forth. Akio was fast and knew how to fight on ice thanks to the weeks they spent training together as a new team prior the exams. Haru in the other hand was a smaller and more flexible target who could do surprising acrobatics in order to avoid Akio's shuriken and kunai assaults.

In the end they were at the opposite ends of the arena where Haru raised her hand and forfeited the match. She could feel her stamina running out and was reluctant to engage Akio in short range battle.

Next Minami battle against the Konohan. It wasn't as exciting as it had been against Yamanaka Yuri. The other boy was fast and had good taijutsu form but in the end Minami got him with Depth Charge to chest.

It was time for the final. Just like planned it was Shiranui Akio versus Kazekoi Minami. Boys who'd been friends since they'd first met. Boys with burdens on their shoulders. Minami had his father, mother and uncle who all had been (or still were) exceptional shinobi. Akio had a lot to prove to his brother's village and show how far he'd come at his new home.

The two boys watched each other. People were shouting encouragements.

("Go Nami-niichan! Go Aki-niichan!" Naruto shouted.)

("Show them all, Akio-san!" Tenten gushed.)

("They are strong… I can learn from this…" Uchiha Sasuke thought.)

("They are so cute… But not as much as my Sasuke-kun!" Several fangirls decided.)

("I can't decide which one to root for…" Rui bit her lip in indecision.)

("Go, Akio! Beat the featherbrain!" Mari yelled.)

("Show them all, Minami!" Fukurou encouraged.)

("Be brilliant, Minami-kun." Katana smiled.)

("Impress us." Nanami commanded silently.)

("Go Akio-kun!" Haru blushed slightly.)

("Last minute bets! Who will win? Who will score the first hit? Who shall be the winner of this tournament?!" Anko and Aoba went through the jounins and chuunins watching and collected money and information.)

(The Kages and the rest of the audience waited eagerly what would happen in this match.)

"And begin!"

The boys jumped forwards and engaged in taijutsu battle. Kicks, hits, blocks, dodges… Akio managed to slam Minami to ground but the blonde boy replaced himself before the brunet could follow through. Next was shuriken and kunai flying, accompanied by occasional senbon.

 **"Fuuton: Reppuushoo!"**  
 **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**

Akio clapped his hands together and wind pushed his projectiles go faster and twist Minami's aside. Minami's eyes widened fractionally and ducked the shuriken and kunai. When he straightened up, he was grinning.

"Ready to up the challenge level?"

"Sure. What do you need?" Akio shrugged.

"Just six of my kunai and the entire arena." Minami went through two hand seals. Bird – Rabbit. Flash of golden yellow, the same color than his hair, and the boy was holding six of his kunai that he'd been tossing around.

"You get the ground, I get the air? Fine." And Akio was up, one of his medium sized scrolls open in front of him. Once again, torrent of weapons rained down, this time it was senbon and some bigger projectiles. Minami dodged what he could and caught and threw back some of the rest. Then first kunai flew. Akio knocked down mid-flight but missed the one right behind it.

 _ **Flash**_

Minami was above him, aiming an axe kick at his back. Akio twisted around and blocked the kick with his forearm, sending him to the ground.

 _ **Flash**_

Minami was by the first kunai now, just a meter from the ground, kicking off from the ground and twisting for the next kick. But Akio was ready. He turned and met the kick with his own. When the brunette touched ground too, he went to offensive but…

 _ **Flash**_

Minami was thirty meters away, but a third kunai. When had he thrown that one? The blonde made the two hand signs than before: Bird – Rabbit. And got his two kunai back again, giving him the full set of six. But he made a mistake. Akio saw the hand signs and grabbed the first kunai in front of him, making Minami draw him to close proximity along with the kunai.

"Hello, Mina-chan!" Akio smirked and sent a punch to his friend's jaw. Minami let it connect and was careful not to bit his tongue: that'd be painful and distracting…

When landing, Minami threw one of his kunai to the side when Akio was approaching to attack again. Other kunai went sailing past the weapon user's head. Akio tightened his hold on the kunai he had. It was an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. Advantage because it was one less kunai for Minami use. Disadvantage because Minami could always teleport to it and surprise Akio.

Flash

Minami went to the right. Akio molded chakra and breathed in.

 _ **Tiger – Ox – Dog – Rabbit – Snake**_

" **Fuuton: Daitoppa!"  
(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**

Wind ripped through the arena when Akio exhaled. Even the proctor had to move and bit as the wind twisted in the confines of the circular walls.

 _ **Flash**_

Minami was up in the air after throwing one of this kunai. Akio gritted his teeth. This was going to be tricky. Minami aimed the kunai straight at him then.

 _ **Flash**_

The blonde Lightning user came flying at him. And lightning was running along his arms. It was the 'murder' technique that he'd used to finish Yamanaka Yuri. Reacting quickly, Akio went through the seals of technique that Mari had taught him. It was something that all three students for team Nanami 2.0 knew. It was Namikaze Nanami's own technique. While it wasn't anything flashy in a sense, it was a great close-range defense against lighting.

" **Fuuton: Reppuutebukuro!"  
(Wind Release: Gale Glove)**

The thing about that technique was that it enveloped the user's hands and even arms in thick layer of air and allows them to touch the lighting technique headed towards them. And twist it to the ground. Akio grabbed Minami's wrists and forced the electricity to discharge to the ground. It resulted an explosion that sent both boys flying.

Silence reigned. The audience had been watching the fight with baited breath. When the smoke cleared, both boys were standing. Breathing heavily but still standing. Then Akio's knees gave in.

 _ **Flash**_

Minami caught his friend with one arm and sat on the ground, Akio's dead weight pulling him down. Neither of them said a word.

"And the winner is: Kazekoi Minami of Tanigakure!" The proctor announced then, once gathering his bearings. And it was like sound had been flipped on. The audience began cheering and clapping. Minami just stared at them all, barely believing what had happened.

* * *

"That's my son." Nanami smiled happily. She was practically glowing in pride as she watched the aftermath of the tournament. Minami had grown so much. Grown up and grown stronger. "After two years he finally learnt Minato's technique."

"He seems to have a knack to surprise us." Hiruzen nodded slowly. "Pity that you two aren't part of Konoha."

"Pssh! Tani has certain qualities that make us much better than any of the five great villages."

"Ghost…" Oonoki muttered but faced then Nanami's glare.

"Minami-kun is no ghost. He is his own person despite how much he might admire and resemble Minato. He also takes after his father Kazekoi Kenta. Minami-kun is my golden lightning."

* * *

In the end promotions were given to all three Tani genin, Yamanaka Yuri and the Kiri genin who went against Iwa genin but lost just barely.

And the Tani genin also got Bingo book places from Iwa, Kiri and Kumo too once the news reached them.

 **Yuki Haru** – B-rank shinobi – Tanigakure no Sato – origin from Kirigakure – 'Hisame' – Hyoton – student of Kisaragi 'Chi no Ame' Shigure

 **Shiranui Akio** – B-rank shinobi – Tanigakure no Sato – origin from Konohagakure – 'Kazakiri' – student of Nohara 'Nisshoku' Mari

 **Kazekoi Minami** – A-rank shinobi – Tanigakure no Sato – "Kogane no Kaminari" – Hiraishin – student of Torino 'Senkensha' Fukurou

* * *

 **A/N: The end is a bit abrupt... I know I know I probably should've expained things more but...**

 **Anyways, all the jutsu are either from narutopedia or then made up with liberal use of google. GOOGLE trnsltr was also quite helpful when making the ephitehts for the kids. They are not very imaginative but... Haru is Ice Rain, bit of homage to Shigure who is Blood Rain. Akio is simply Windcut(ter). Minami is Golden Lighting. Oonoki picked the name just to piss off Nanami.**

 **I know that in a previous chapter I said that Minami would get Hiraishin 'eventually'. Well, this is a bit earlier than I thought at first but... He has been working with it for two years and one can do tremendous amount of progress in mere month.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and will review. :)**


	13. Blue river full of weapons

**A/N: I don't know where the inspiration for these chapters come from... Maybe from the fact that after this chapter there is only three chapters left until I can start with the SI-OC part. Maybe...**

 **But... some world and clan building here. I hope it's interesting and realistic enough for you. This is in the same timeline form than the chapters in the beginning of this fic.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Blue river full of weapons**

Despite being one of the founding clans, the Aoi Clan was easily ignored and only spoken to and spoken of when something was needed from them. But for the most part that was fine by them. They managed to make connections to other villages, civilian and shinobi alike remain out of conflicts until a mediator was needed. They were weapon masters and in a way so far obsessed with it that they named their children after weapons that they expected the descendants to pick up once they grew up. And for a reason or other the children did love the weapons their names meant.

With time there was another branch of shinobi arts that was connected with the Aoi clan and had quite a few apprentices. Fuuinjutsu, the Art of Sealing.

* * *

It was around the First Great Shinobi War. Konohagakure had been founded with the other nations of Big Five following the example. Small nations, as always were caught in the middle. In this war Kawa no Kuni was no exception. With the clans of the new villages having migrated behind those village walls, it left a lot of land free to be used in battles and war.

Of course not all clans left when offered place in Konoha or any of the other villages. Midorizuki clan used to be allied with the Uchihas but rather than leaving their corner of Hi no Kuni, they changed the clan name, became part of Kawa no Kuni and began planning a village of their own. There was supposedly other reasons too but no one outside those two clans knew of them. Changing their name was also a defense mechanism against possible retaliation from the Uchihas. This clan were the Torinos.

Just like Uchiha and Senju had been sworn enemies for longer than human memory reached, so were the Midorizuki – now Torino – and Hanada. Their family jutsus complimented each other and usually the two clans tried to outmaneuver and one-up the other. Usually without much success or casualty-rate. Maybe that's why they were in the end willing to sit into the negotiation table with the Aoi and form their new village under the permission of River Daimyo.

And so the village was built and the clans moved in. And more clans moved in. And civilians settled to take care of trade and regular village stuff while the shinobi kept them safe. And the war finally ended.

It was during that said war that Aoi Kama met his future wife Uzumaki Kiku. The red-haired woman had been part of the joint Konoha-Uzushio forces when they'd met on battle field and clashed. Sickles and wind jutsu versus most masterful fuuinjutsu anyone at that side Elemental nations had seen. But Kama managed to maneuver around it and even land a hit or two on the kunoichi. They clashed often and each time were impressed by the other's skill and strength. On both sides there was jeering from their allies as it was obvious that the two harbored more feelings than just admiration for each other.

It was after the war when suddenly the heir of Aoi clan had been called to the Shodai Kawabara Torino Tsuru's office and met there the young woman he'd thought to never see again. In the spur of moment he'd proposed Kiku right then and there in the office. And the Uzumaki kunoichi had agreed.

That was thirty-three years before Nine-Tails attacked Konoha. There was some clamor over the fact that Kiku had 'run off' to 'enemy village' rather than 'ally village' but in the end Konoha hadn't cared. Especially after Mito-hime herself had told them to shut up.

* * *

 **Year 31 BNT**

Ninja Academy was founded to Tani. It took some aspects from the Konohan academy, what little their spies could glean, but overall it was with a cooperation of all ten clans back then that the curriculum for the academy was made. It was balanced and gave space for clan specialties and civilian duties alike.

It was that year that Jian Aoi was born as next in line to Kama and Kiku. Three years later Kusari was born. Both boys excelled both in weapon handling and seals, heritage from both parents.

* * *

 **Year 12 BNT**

Kawabara had changed twice. First during the peace time, Hanada Tomoharu took the seat. The second time was after the Second great Shinobi War began and Aoi Kama rose to take the lead. Tanigakure struck viciously at any forces trying to battle on their territory, thus usually separating the armies of Suna and Konoha to either battle on dry and hot desert or deep in the shadowy and obscuring forest rather than the canyons and mixed terrain of Kawa.

During that time two other clans had joined the village too. The Noharas and the Nattoos from Konoha and Iwa respectively.

Uzumaki Kiku took a whole class of students to learn sealing arts after the news of the fall of Uzushio reached her ears. She also paid a visit to Konoha to meet with her fellow clanswomen, Mito and Kushina.

* * *

 **Year 6 BNT**

Aoi Katana was born to Kusari and his wife Akako Hibashira thus completing the future line-up for the next Tori-Hana-Ao team. With Hanada Mirai and Torino Suzume, they'd make devastating strike team.

* * *

 **Year 5 BNT**

A couple of years of peace before the sky was ripped open again. More people came to Tani, including Namida clan from Kusa and what little was left of the Kisaragis after Hanzo's purges. Singular ninjas came too. Some on their own two feet like Hyuuga Hotaru and Kisaragi Shigure, some through rescue operation like Uchiha Obito.

Kiku created a seal for Hyuuga Hotaru – now Fong Mai – that made her caged bird seal ineffective.

* * *

 **Year 4 BNT**

The next future trio of Tori-Hana-Ao was born. Daughter of Torino Washi (brother of Torino Taka) Torino Tsubame. And the current heir of Hanada clan, Hanada Akira. And Katana's little brother Aoi Ken. This was also the year that Katana was made the next heiress of Aoi clan. While her uncle Jian was the head of family, he didn't have any children on his own.

* * *

 **Year 3 ANT**

Torino Taka became the Yondaime Kawabara.

The three girls of the new Tori-Hana-Ao team graduated from the academy. They were put under the watchful eye of Ryuu no Ryuuko who honed their skills to perfection. Eventually the three of them became also known as Three Weapons and later when Hikari Saki – Uchiha Kisaru – joined then, as Four Deaths.

* * *

 **Year 8 ANT**

The year of Uchiha massacre in Konoha. The year when Three Weapons became Four Deaths. The year when Kazekoi Minami and Aoi Katana both were officially apprenticed to Kiku. They both had dabbled a bit here and there during academy times but those had been of turmoil in the passing tides of the last war. Shiranui Akio joined on some lessons too, mostly improve his own storage seals as he found other aspects of sealing a bit too far in his interest and talent spectrum.

"Hiraishin, dayo?" Katana gaped at Minami's notes.

"Yeah, I got the basics from kaa-san and have been working in decoding and understanding Minato-jisan's notes myself. This is just a fraction of my deductions." Minami waved the sheaf of papers he'd picked up from the table between them. The table itself was full of different scrolls and papers. "I wanted to ask Kiku-shishou if she could offer any insight to this. Kaa-chan can help me with the practicing process as she was there to supervise her niisan along with Sannin Jiraiya-sama… But she can't help me with the seals. Kaa-chan knows basics of storage and explosion seals and some custom ones she used when going to assassinations but Hiraishin is a bit too much for her on the theory side."

"Still, that's super hard jutsu with some serious… reputation. Iwa and Kumo both will come after you if you learn that, dayo. Heck, they might come after you just for attempting it."

"I know. But I also know that this part of Minato-jisan's legacy should not be in mere books only. It needs to keep living. And this is something I really want to learn."

"You really admire your uncle, huh?" Katana quirked a smile at her boyfriend. "Can you live up to the expectations then, dayo?"

"Yes. I just need some fresh eyes to look at my calculations. Kiku-shishou is genius with seals and easily equal in jutsu creation to Senju Tobirama himself!"

"Why, thank you Minami-kun." Sounded from behind the boy as Uzumaki-Aoi Kiku stepped into the room. "It's great to hear you think so highly of me."

Minami blushed. "Well, all the work I've seen from you Kiku-shishou, and what I've heard of your accomplishments speak for themselves."

"That's true." Katana nodded. "Obaasan, can you check my barrier seals after seeing to Minami-kun's work? I thought about tying exploding matrixes into the barrier framework."

"Sure, sure… Now scram you two. There is a scroll in the other room. Study the seal inside it and then come to tell me what you think it will do."

"Hai, obaasan/Kiku-shishou." The two preteens scrambled on their feet and let their sealing master look at their calculations and work. In the other room there was a large scroll opened and full of scribblings. Calculations on how to make a jutsu to work, what that jutsu should do and how quickly it could be applied.

"These numbers…" Katana muttered. "They don't make any sense, dayo."

"A chakra suppression technique that forms an impenetrable barrier around the target. Once applied, the target won't be able to use chakra in their coils at all until the technique is reversed…" Minami deducted. "This is very… selective."

"Yes, but look at those amounts of certain chakra type." Katana interrupted. "This is meant for two people to place, one using Yin chakra and the other using Yang chakra. But the amounts needed… The person using Yin chakra would need to be basically only made of spiritual energy! A ghost, dayo!"

"…Or dead person recalled back to the living world."

"What?" Red hair whipped around when Katana turned quickly to look at her friend. Minami had a thoughtful frown on his face as he examined parts of the seal.

"I… You know the Ghost pond in Torino district? The one that weighted in the placement of Tanigakure so it could be protected from outside forces and managed to become a mere rumor after the founding of village?"

"I know of it… So what you've been talking with ghosts in the pond then?"

"Since I was a kid actually… But I did found out that there is a jutsu that allows to bring souls back from the Pure World. It is extremely complicated and requires a living sacrifice and DNA of the dead person in order to work."

"Who came up with that insane jutsu then?"

"Senju Tobirama." Once again the duo tensed in surprise when Kiku appeared in the room. "You both did good work on your jutsus, just check the notes I wrote for you." The old woman walked around the scroll on the floor and sat in seiza opposite the two Tani-nin(Minami was still genin while Katana had been recently promoted into jounin rank.) "The man was a genius but thankfully that jutsu, Edo Tensei, was never needed on battle field. It was classified as kinjutsu and only scant few in Konoha even know of it. I know because we used to have some intellectual conversations during the First war."

"Is it alright for you to tell us then? That sounds like an S-rank secret." Katana frowned. Kiku simply waved a dismissing hand.

"I think you need to know _of_ it. I'm not teaching you how to do it. But if you ever meet someone who can use it and is using it, you should know its weaknesses and how to counter it. I hope you never need this knowledge but…" The old woman straightened her white once red hair pulled on a tight bun and the pulled closer yet another scroll. This one was a bit smaller. "You are my only students I've taken this far personally. The rest have continued studies on their own or searched for other possible seal masters. There are not many aside from the ones in temples and monks rarely have sealing knowledge used in offense."

"Kiku-baasan? Since you know this Edo Tensei so well… Did you…" Katana trailed off.

"I used it once. To say a proper goodbye to my parents after they'd fallen on other battlefield. Tobirama-sama supervised the entire time and made me swear not to use it again. Instead, I made another jutsu during the past decades."

Minami and Katana exchanged a glance. If it was something that had taken _Kiku_ several _decades_ …

"It recalls a chakra imprint of a passed away person and you can bind a contract with them. Like a summoning contract." Kiku opened the scroll.

 _ **Kuchiyose: Tamashii no Souki**_

"Summoning: Soul Recall?" Katana read.

"You make contract with the soul you know to some degree but you can't force them. The chakra imprint simply leaves if you try to bind them forcefully. It's up to you to convince them why you should be the one they'd help. Obviously some souls are so old that they have no interest in our world while some simply want to enjoy the peace they have now. But some… Some might want to help."

"How are the bodies made then?" Minami asked.

"I call it 'flapping papers'. Those slips that materialize out of nothing to form the body over the sacrifice in Edo Tensei. But no sacrifice is needed for this other than the standard amount of chakra from the user when using any summoning technique."

"So basically they are empty shells with the chakra ghost to move it?" Katana confirmed. Kiku nodded.

"Exactly. The soul itself still exists in the Pure World but is sort of in slumber. At least that my sister told me when she agreed to the contract."

"Can they dismiss themselves like normal summons then?" Minami asked in turn.

"Yes, they can. They have much more autonomy than the victims of Edo Tensei."

"You want us to learn these two techniques… And work in tandem in the case one of us is killed… Do you think something is going to happen, obaasan?" Katana frowned.

Kiku sighed.

"It's been almost nine years since the last war… There are some tensions still and next war might erupt at any moment. And it's entirely possible we won't manage to remain neutral." The old woman gave them a small smile. "Bigger villages tend to forget what smaller ones have power too and our prowess in the Second war. Anything can happen and I'll do everything I can to make sure that the next generation is ready."

Minami's thoughts wandered to last year when during team introductions his team mate Kumokuro Aikira had spoken about 'threads of tension'. He tried not to feel nervous about it.

* * *

 **Year 9 ANT**

Katana watched Minami fight Akio in the Konoha chuunin exams. He was brilliant. And Katana was speechless. At this rate Minami could make it to jounin at any time!

Nanami-sama was proud of her son. Heck, Katana was proud of the blond Raiton user. After all they'd been dating for a year already.

…And Katana bet Kiku-baasan was proud of Minami too. At least would be as soon as she heard how the match went.

* * *

It was nice breezy evening and Katana was looking for her boyfriend. She hadn't seen him for a couple of days when they both were supposedly in the village for down time in-between missions. After asking around, she was directed to the cave that had the Ghost pond inside it.

"What's going on for you of all people to have a long face?" Katana frowned when she stepped into the cave and saw Minami deep in his thoughts very much unhappy. "Especially so recently after promotion. Doesn't the new rank satisfy you?"

Minami sighed from where he was sitting at the edge of Ghost Pond. Of course Katana would come and look for him.

"The clan elders are squabbling over who'll be the next in line to be clan heir."

"Isn't Taka-sama the current clan head?" And the Kawabara but he had Nanami to help with paperwork.

"Yes. But as Tsuru-sama's health is worsening by day, the elders want to secure a firm, clear and rightful line of succession. Tsuru-sama isn't commenting since she feels like all the candidates are equally good…"

"Mind reminding me the current situation so I can have a bit more insight?" Katana aske wryly.

"Tsuru-sama had three children. Taka-sama, Karasu-san and Washi-san… Taka-sama has no children but me by technicality. It makes me a viable heir even if I don't carry the bloodline or name of the clan. Then is Washi-san's daughter Tsubame-chan. She is a year younger than I and graduating this year from the Academy. But she is also the youngest, from the youngest brother, and a girl, so some elders are against her. Finally there was Karasu-san. She had no children before her death but technically Fukurou-niisan could apply for the position. He is also the eldest of us three candidates and a jounin already so that speaks for him even if he was adopted to the clan."

"So there are now a bunch of old coots with differing opinions and fighting over which of the traditional values matters most? Blood, gender or age?" Katana mused. Minami sighed again and ran a hand through his hair.

"Exactly. Not to mention that there are those that try to pressure Taka-sama and kaa-san to have a child together. They'd trump all the other candidates and would make the elders agree even if they were girl. Tsuru-sama is a woman after all…"

"Tricky situation. I'd probably cast my vote to Tsubame-chan. You obviously don't want the position and Fukurou-san is going to more and more dangerous missions now that you all made it to chuunin… He lives for the village, not for the clan."

"I know…"

* * *

Minami sat in the room where he and Katana had been taught the sealing arts. He was inspecting the scroll of now finished barrier technique that Kiku had showed the two on the previous year. His teacher was sitting opposite him, with tea cup in her hands.

"I have Katana-chan in my summoning contract." Minami spoke then. Tear tracks marred his cheeks. It had been a couple of weeks since the incident that forced Hikari Saki to kill her team mate Aoi Katana. The squad leader still in the interrogation. Torino Suzume still in the hospital. Hanada Mirai was applying to T&I unit. The Oto genin was going through her assessment so she could be admitted to active Tani forces.

"How is she doing?" Kiku asked gently and placed the tea cup on the low table between them. Minami turned away from the scroll to face the old woman.

"Shock… Guilty of being caught unaware with that seal… But also relatively happy. In a way that now she can assist me as a summon ghost and also with the deadlock seal should there ever be need for it." Minami reached for the cup of tea Kiku had poured for him. The tea was still hot thanks to the seal inscribed inside the cup. "She is also happy to have met Mito-sama and Kushina-san. But also sad that she won't see Ken-kun graduate."

"And because this technique is top secret, you can't just use it to summon her to the graduation itself." Kiku reminded him.

"I know. But for her sake I'll become better."

"Did you hear that Hikari Saki has requested Katana-chan's weapon for her use? As her own way of honoring Katana-chan's memory."

"…I bet the Aoi elders have raised a fuzz for that." Minami quirked a smile.

"Jian-kun is not too happy of the idea as a clan head but Kama-san and I have both given green light. Kusari-kun is still in decisive but I'm positive he'll realize that no one else is going to take up the weapon for the next few years."

* * *

In the next autumn Aoi Ken graduated from the Academy and was placed in the same team with Torino Tsubame and Hanada Akira, thus forming the second full set of Tori-Hana-Ao within the past decade. They jounin sensei was Fong Mai and only after a year of leading and teaching the trio, did the three genin find out about the woman's real heritage as Hyuuga.

* * *

 **A/N: The events of the end of chapter... four _Tani no Yun_ happened between third last and second last parts of this chapter. When rereading my own fic I'd forgotten what a tearjerker it had been. I've been rereading a lot and noted some inconsistencies... For example the first chapter where I have Nohara Mari, it's said that she has earth natured chakra. That's not true. She is lightning type. Other is the fact that at first I wrote Aoi Gama instead of Kama. And that's a bigger no no. Why? Well, because 'gama' means 'frog' and 'kama' means 'sickle'!**

 **Oh well... The two jutsus that were introduced here won't be used until later in the fic and I mean like _in Shippuuden_ later but this chapter was a good one to mention and explain them.**

 **In the next chapter we should have the Hikari clan introduction. Aside from the three founding clans the Hikaris is the next important one plotwise.**


End file.
